Rep. Eric Swalwell sends cease-and-desist letter to FBI director

The move comes after a report in The Post that Kash Patel was preparing to release investigative files related to the California Democrat.

March 30, 2026 at 6:34 p.m. EDT

Attorneys for Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-California) demanded Monday in a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel that the bureau refrain from releasing decade-old investigative files involving the congressman’s purported ties to a suspected Chinese intelligence operative.

The congressman called for the FBI to agree within three days not to release the files, adding that any further action to release them could prompt him to take legal action. The cease-and-desist letter followed a report from The Washington Post over the weekend that Patel had dispatched agents to review and redact the files in a potential move to ready them for a public release.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/03/30/swalwell-patel-cease-desist-letter/