Two legal experts told Fox News host Sean Hannity Tuesday that Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell would lose a legal battle to prevent FBI Director Kash Patel from releasing files on his relationship with a suspected Chinese spy.
Swalwell threatened to sue the FBI to prevent the release of the files regarding Swalwell’s alleged affair with Christine Fang, who reportedly worked with the Ministry of State Security of the People’s Republic of China, in a cease-and-desist letter sent Monday, NBC News reported. Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett and George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said Swalwell’s comments about the Jeffrey Epstein files would “haunt him.”
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“Well, it is an interesting argument that I don’t think is going to hold very well with courts as long as the government complies with operative statutes like the Privacy Act and removes material that’s protected,” Turley told Hannity. “It’s usually really left to the government as to the release of this type of information and I don’t think he’ll succeed in just blocking it entirely, and his arguments for Epstein are going to come back to haunt him.”
“He insisted that really full disclosure is needed here regardless of whether there’s criminal charges,” Turley continued. “Well, he’s running for the governor of California, and the same types of arguments could be made with even greater emphasis in this case.”
Swalwell announced his candidacy for governor of California during a November appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” joining a crowded Democratic field in the state’s so-called “jungle primary” that includes former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter of California and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra. Jarrett told Hannity Swalwell’s status as a sitting congressman would not help him block the release.
“Well, a member of Congress like Swalwell does not have some unique privacy protection from federal investigations by the FBI, particularly if the probe involves suspected criminal activities, and in fact his file can be released under a very broad exception to the Privacy Act, that is if it’s in the public interest and bears directly on an official’s ability to perform his job,” Jarrett said. “That certainly applies here.”
“I think that’s checkmate,” Hannity responded.
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