Eric Swalwell's California gubernatorial campaign received $9,999 from DeHeng Law Offices PC on December 30.
The firm's California office appears to have exactly one lawyer working there.
And Swalwell just got caught taking money from a Chinese law firm that has deep ties to the Communist Party.
Swalwell's Governor Campaign Accepted Nearly $15,000 From CCP-Tied Law Firm
The donation came from a law firm with one attorney in its Silicon Valley office.
That lawyer is Keliang "Clay" Zhu, who previously donated $5,000 to Swalwell's campaign in November and over $10,000 to his House campaigns in previous cycles.
Here's where it gets interesting.
The Chinese Communist Party's Ministry of Justice created the China Law Office as a subsidiary firm in the early 1990s, which later became DeHeng Law Offices in 1995.
The firm now operates over two dozen offices in China while claiming independence, but lawyers at the firm continue working hand-in-glove with the Chinese government's departments and major state-owned enterprises.
Zhu's biography reads like a how-to guide for helping Communist China infiltrate American business.
He touts representing "an investment fund of a major state-owned enterprise in acquiring majority shares in one data analytics software company in the Silicon Valley" valued at $100 million.
Another bio claims he "has assisted Chinese companies and funds to complete more than $9 billion investments in the fields of chips, unmanned vehicles, new energy, artificial intelligence, industrial automation, and biopharmaceuticals in the United States."
That's not all.
"On behalf of Chinese enterprises, he has negotiated with the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Department of Treasury and other organizations for many times and achieved compliance plans, which greatly reduced the compliance risks for Chinese clients in the United States," the bio continued.
Zhu also helped advise "a governmental investment fund from Shenzhen for its compliance with CFIUS regulations in the U.S."
Remember WeChat?
Trump tried to ban it in 2020 because the CCP could use it to access Americans' personal information and launch disinformation campaigns.
Zhu represented "WeChat users in a historic lawsuit that sued President Trump and successfully stopped his WeChat ban in 2020."
Lawyer Behind Donations Fought Laws Blocking China Land Purchases Near Military Bases
Zhu has spent years battling state-level legislation aimed at stopping China's foreign land grab near U.S. military bases.
When Texas passed a law banning Chinese nationals from owning or leasing land in the state, Zhu called it "unfair, unconstitutional and un-American."
He expressed similar fury about Florida's law preventing individuals from countries that are foreign adversaries from buying up land near military installations and strategic sites.
"All Asian Americans will feel the stigma and the chilling effect created by this Florida law, just like the discriminatory laws did to our ancestors more than a hundred years ago," Zhu said in 2023 about the anti-land grab bill. "We shall not go back."
National security experts have been sounding alarms about China buying up farmland, property near military bases, and land near places of strategic value for years.
States like Texas, Florida, and Arizona passed legislation to prevent foreign adversaries from purchasing land near sensitive locations.
Michael Lucci, founder and CEO of State Armor Action, blasted the donations and demanded Congress reform campaign finance laws.
"Congressman Swalwell must finally stop playing footsie with America's foremost adversary: Communist China," Lucci told Fox News Digital. "First was his fiery romance with Fang Fang, a CCP spy, and now he's caught taking campaign checks from Communist China's favorite big law firm."
Lucci called for Congress to "fix this problem by reforming campaign finance laws to define donations made on behalf of foreign adversaries to be bribes, and to impose criminal penalties upon those who make such donations."
He told Fox News Digital that Swalwell should re-donate the funds he received from DeHeng Law Offices and Zhu "to an organization that fights the evils of communism."
Law Firm's China Partners Serve on Communist Party Political Bodies
Several China-based partners at the firm have a history of working in Chinese politics through the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
The CPPCC is a "key mechanism for multi-party cooperation and political consultation" under the leadership of the Communist Party and is a crucial tool of the United Front strategy to influence U.S. policy.
Zhixu Wu, a "Director and Senior Partner" of the Kunming office, is a member of the "Standing Committee of the 13th Kunming Committee of the CPPCC" and a member "of the 12th Yunnan Committee of the CPPCC."
He was previously awarded in 2017 with "the title of 'Excellent League Member' for the second assistance event of the National Lawyers Service Group," which was approved by the "Eight Bureau of United Front Work Department of CPC Central Committee."
Degang Zheng, a senior partner in the Shenzhen office, says in his bio that he is a "Member of the Executive Committee" of the CPPCC's Shenzhen chapter.
Li Wang, the chief global partner of the Beijing office, touts how she "has served as general legal counsel for scores of Ministries of the PRC, state-owned enterprises, and private enterprises and institutions."
Her bio also says she is the "Commissary of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Beijing Committee" and the "Chairman of Belt & Road Service Connections."
Swalwell's History With Fang Fang Chinese Spy Scandal Raises Questions
This isn't Swalwell's first rodeo with China.
Chinese national Christine Fang, also known as "Fang Fang," gained special access to Swalwell and his campaign between 2011 and 2015 as part of what U.S. officials identified as a counterintelligence effort to influence American political figures.
Fang helped fundraise for Swalwell's 2014 reelection campaign and placed at least one intern in his congressional office.
The FBI gave Swalwell a defensive briefing in 2015 warning him about Fang, and he immediately cut off ties.
Fang left the country mid-investigation.
A congressional ethics investigation eventually found no wrongdoing on Swalwell's behalf, but the damage was done.
Then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy removed Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee in 2023, citing his past run-in with the suspected Chinese spy.
The irony is rich.
Swalwell spent years claiming Trump colluded with Russia while Swalwell himself was being cultivated by a suspected Chinese intelligence operative.
Now he's running for Governor of California while taking money from a law firm founded by the Chinese Communist Party's Ministry of Justice.
The lawyer who donated works to help Chinese state-owned enterprises buy American companies, fights laws meant to stop China from buying land near military bases, and successfully sued Trump to stop the WeChat ban.
This isn't terrible judgment.
This is a pattern.
Sources:
- Cameron Cawthorne and Alec Schemmel, "Swalwell campaign in the hot seat after accepting almost $15K from CCP-tied law firm: 'Stop playing footsie'," Fox News, January 16, 2026.
- Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian, Bill Birtles, Zach Dorfman, "Exclusive: How a suspected Chinese spy gained access to California politics," Axios, December 14, 2020.
- Marc A. Thiessen, "The Poetic Justice in Eric Swalwell's Relationship with a Chinese Spy," American Enterprise Institute, May 25, 2022.
- Sarah Bauerle Danzman, "China's ability to buy US land near military bases just got more restricted," Atlantic Council, July 24, 2024.
- Sophie Kiderlin, "Chinese Companies Keep Buying U.S. Land Near Military Bases," Foreign Policy, May 16, 2024.