Swalwell's legal counsel responds to declassified docs, says files show 'nothing new'

Former Congressman Eric Swalwell on Monday responded to President Donald Trump's declassification and release of documents related to an FBI investigation into him and his former associate Fang Fang. 

The files showed that the FBI developed evidence suggesting that Fang Fang, who had direct ties to Chinese intelligence, had potentially compromised the Democratic congressman from California with sex, foreign interns and illicit donations while she was being recruited to become a bureau informant a decade ago, Just the News reported on Monday.

"There is nothing new here. The government’s own memorandum confirms what Congressman Swalwell has said for more than a decade: he did nothing wrong, and there was no basis to charge him with any offense," Sara Azari, legal counsel for Swalwell, said in a statement to Just the News. 

Instead, Swalwell's counsel said that President Trump is using the release of these investigative files to punish him for his public criticism of his administration. 

"What is new and deeply concerning is the apparent use of federal law enforcement information to punish or embarrass an outspoken critic of the current administration. An investigation that produced no charges and no finding of wrongdoing should not be resurrected years later as a vehicle for political retaliation," she said. 

"The facts have not changed. Only the political motive for publicizing them has. That should concern anyone who believes federal law enforcement must remain independent of political retribution," said Azari. 

Just the News reported on Monday that, though Swalwell was initially a subject of the probe into illegal campaign contributions, the FBI eventually dropped him from the probe, determining that the investigation had found no violations of federal statutes by the congressman. In February 2017, the investigation was reclassified to focus solely on Fang.