A recent investigation has uncovered that Rep. Eric Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign accepted nearly $10,000 from a California office of DeHeng Law Offices PC, a firm with reported ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
According to a Fox News Digital report, Swalwell’s campaign received $9,999 from DeHeng’s Pleasanton, California office—dubbed the “Silicon Valley Office”—on Dec. 30, as detailed in a filing released this week, alongside an earlier $5,000 donation from Keliang “Clay” Zhu, a partner at the firm and the sole listed attorney at that office.
Let’s not mince words—this situation raises eyebrows, especially given DeHeng’s history and connections.
DeHeng, originally founded as the China Law Office under the CCP’s Ministry of Justice in the early 1990s before its 1995 rebranding, boasts over two dozen offices in China and maintains close cooperation with Chinese government departments and state-owned enterprises, per Fox’s findings, Fox News reported.
Zhu, originally from China, has a resume that reads like a roadmap of Beijing’s influence in American tech and policy, representing state-backed funds in massive U.S. investments worth over $9 billion in sectors like chips and AI.
His bio even brags about negotiating with the U.S. Department of Commerce and Treasury to reduce “compliance risks for Chinese clients,” which sounds less like legal aid and more like a diplomatic chess move.
Speaking of Zhu, he’s been vocal against state laws in Texas and Florida aimed at curbing foreign land purchases by nationals from adversary countries like China, laws born from national security concerns over farmland and strategic property near military bases.
His criticism, as cited by AsAmNews, includes a sharp jab at a Florida law: “All Asian Americans will feel the stigma and the chilling effect created by this Florida law.”
While Zhu’s concern for community impact is noted, one wonders if the real chill comes from foreign entities snapping up land near sensitive U.S. assets—something experts have flagged as a genuine risk.
Swalwell’s past brush with Christine Fang, a Chinese national tied to a suspected counterintelligence effort, adds fuel to this fire, even though a congressional ethics probe found no wrongdoing on his part.
Republicans, including then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, weren’t convinced, booting him from the House Intelligence Committee over those earlier ties—a decision that looms large now as new donations surface.
If history is any guide, accepting funds from a firm like DeHeng, with partners linked to the CCP’s political consultation bodies, isn’t exactly a trust-building exercise for a gubernatorial hopeful.
China policy expert Michael Lucci of State Armor Action didn’t hold back, urging Swalwell to redirect these funds to an anti-communism cause and stop what he called “dalliances” with adversarial interests.
Lucci’s push for campaign finance reform hits a nerve—shouldn’t there be tighter guardrails on donations from firms with such blatant ties to foreign powers, especially one with the CCP’s fingerprints all over it?
As the Trump administration once warned about WeChat, “data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information”—a concern Zhu himself fought against when he represented users to block a 2020 ban (attributed to the Trump administration).