If I ever wrote a spy novel about a Chinese agent who sleeps her way into California’s top political circles, I’d totally name her ‘Fang Fang’.

The Swalwell affair just got awkwarder.

The FBI developed evidence that a Chinese woman with direct ties to that country’s intelligence service had potentially compromised a Democratic congressman from California with sex, foreign interns and illicit donations while she was being recruited to become a bureau informant a decade ago, according to bombshell memos that expose another threat to America’s political system from Beijing.

The files chronicling the relationship between Rep. Eric Swalwell and the Chinese national Fang Fang – also known by her English name Christine Fang – were declassified by President Donald Trump and released Monday by the White House Government Transparency Task Force as part of a broader effort to unmask foreign threats to U.S. political and election systems.

They show the FBI opened a predicated investigation, which is a formal law enforcement inquiry backed by a factual basis or allegation that indicates a crime or national security threat already exists.

Unlike unpredicated “assessments,” a predicated investigation allows agents to use advanced and intrusive methods like electronic surveillance or informants.

The files provide significant new details about the long-rumored relationship between Fang and Swalwell […]

The FBI assessment, which later became a full-fledged investigation, centered on allegations that Swalwell awarded internships at his offices in exchange for campaign contributions. The FBI identified Fang “Christine” Fang, a Chinese national, as the alleged facilitator of this exchange and alleged she employed conduits to route illegal donations.

Update: Sam Cooper has a summary up