FIRST ON FOX: A previously unreported 2013 Facebook post by China’s San Francisco consulate shows then-freshman Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., touting “great potential” for U.S.-China cooperation during a meeting with a senior CCP diplomat, which came during the same time period when Swalwell was allegedly targeted by Chinese espionage efforts.

The 2013 photo, which was unearthed by Fox News Digital and “liked” by Christine “Fang Fang” Fang, a Chinese national who was suspected of being a Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) operative and who was reportedly working closely with Swalwell’s campaign helping with fundraising, showed Swalwell posing with Song Ru’an. 

At the time of the photo, Ru’an was the Deputy Consul General at China’s Bay Area consulate in San Francisco. He would subsequently be tapped to serve as the Deputy Commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in Hong Kong until at least 2021. 

“The United States and China have a lot in common and the two economies are highly complementary. There are great potential for the two countries to cooperate,” Swalwell said at the meeting according to the picture’s caption posted by the Chinese consulate. “I will work actively to promote bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and I’m looking forward to visiting China in the near future.”

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The unearthed photo comes a couple of weeks after Fox News Digital reported on a California-based law partner for a Beijing law firm donating thousands of dollars to Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign. Like Keliang “Clay” Zhu, Ru’an has a history of supporting interests contrary to American priorities. Ru’an served as one of China’s leading officials in Hong Kong between 2015 and 2021, and was a vocal critic of a 2019 U.S. Human Rights and Democracy Act aimed at protecting Hong Kongers from China’s authoritarian crackdown on its dissidents that only a single Republican member of Congress voted against. 

Ru’an blasted the bill at the time as the “the epitome of hegemony” and warned it went against American interests, according to the South China Morning Post. Ru’an also reportedly slammed the moves as a “negative and disgraceful role” the U.S. was playing in China’s domestic issues. 

Ru’an emerged as a central figure in Hong Kong during China’s national security crackdown there that began boiling over in 2020, 2021 and subsequent years. According to the Hong Kong Journalists Association, Ru’an told foreign media outlets to “inject positive energy” into coverage about new extradition laws China was imposing on Hong Kong in 2019. Multiple briefings from both previous and subsequent years showed similar efforts by Ru’an to “guide” media coverage in favor of China. 

In 2018, he met with members of the American media to discuss how the “One Country, Two Systems” framework between Hong Kong and China is vital to U.S.-China trade relations.

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Prior to Ru’an’s work on behalf of the Chinese government in Hong Kong, while serving as Deputy Consulate General at China’s San Francisco consulate, public reports said Ru’an and other consular officials sent letters and traveled to Oregon in an attempt to prevent the creation of a mural highlighting China’s human rights abuses against Tibetan people. Prior to working in San Francisco, Ru’an held multiple CCP roles back in China, including at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Swalwell’s team declined to provide any comment for this story. The San Francisco Chinese Consulate did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

“It’s bad enough that certain California special interests are pushing redistributionist tax policies straight out of a communist manifesto. Now one of the state’s leading gubernatorial candidates has been caught cozying up to the Communist Chinese Party again,” GOP strategist Colin Reed said. “California’s next governor needs to have the intelligence, judgment and character to stand up to the CCP, especially when it comes to empowering American innovators with a common sense regulatory environment that allows them to grow.”

“I know first hand what it’s like to live under a communist regime. One-party rule by an authoritarian Communist Party: that’s not theoretical for me, and for years I have expressed my disgust at the establishment strategy of ‘engaging’ with the communist regime in China in the hope that this would one day move them towards freedom and democracy,” Republican California gubernatorial candidate and Former Fox News host Steve Hilton told Fox News Digital.

“These people never give up power voluntarily and they are always on the look-out for the ‘useful idiots’ and gullible stooges who they can target with their influence operations. Seems like they found the perfect mark in Eric Swalwell, and it’s somewhat alarming that the poor judgment is still being repeated, as we learned with the recent revelations about CCP-linked donations to his campaign,” he added.

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Swalwell served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) when news broke of his ties to Fang Fang, who “liked” the photo posted in 2013 of Swalwell and Ru’an. Swalwell’s role on the influential intel committee was one that dealt with sensitive national security matters other members of Congress are not privy to. Now, he is asking voters to elevate him to governor of a state at the center of U.S.-China trade and tech. 

Earlier that same year, Swalwell attended an event hosted by the California State University, East Bay Chinese Student Association, a group that was led by Fang Fang, to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

U.S. officials have repeatedly warned that Beijing uses diplomats and influence networks like the United Front to cultivate relationships with American politicians, making even routine-looking interactions politically combustible when they involve a lawmaker already shadowed by foreign-influence scrutiny.

“Swalwell met Fang Fang when he was on the city council. He continued a long relationship with her and she would direct him. She directed interns in his office,” former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told Fox News Digital. “And it wasn’t just Swalwell who had knowledge of her. I believe people in his family became friends with her as well. But his activity and his behavior is very disturbing.”

“The report that I received, he never should have been on Intel,” McCarthy told Fox News Digital, citing the briefing he and other senior level members of Congress received after news broke about Swalwell, Fang Fang and the alleged influence operation she was part of. “The knowledge that I have of what transpired and the actions that he has done and the behavior, especially when he’s gone to other countries, I would be very leery of him in any position of that can have sensitive information. The recklessness in which he lived his life, the reports that have come back, I think it would be hard for him to ever even be considered as a governor candidate, period.”

A handful of current and former intelligence officials told Axios in 2020 that they believed Fang Fang, who also goes by Christine Fang, was part of an influence operation run by China’s Ministry of State Security between roughly 2011 and 2015. The outlet reported that Fang Fang gained proximity to political power through campaign fundraising and networking, adding that she engaged in sexual relationships with at least two Midwestern mayors, and was also targeting elected officials in California.

Swalwell’s earliest ties to Fang Fang began in 2012 when he was seen posing in a photo with her during his time as a council member for Dublin City, California. The reported “student event” was attended by Fang Fang, who Axios indicated was a leader for her school’s Chinese Student Association and its Asian Pacific American Public Affairs chapter. The pair was identified posing in another photo together the following year at a Chinese New Year banquet held at Fang Fang’s college.

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Meanwhile, between 2013 and 2014, Fang Fang helped fundraise at an event for Tulsi Gabbard, according to a flyer of the event she shared on Facebook, and also volunteered for Rep. Ro Khanna’s, D-Calif., failed House bid, other social media posts and talks with a former organizer indicated, according to Axios. Fang Fang appeared in photos with Swalwell, Khanna, Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., and others across a period of several years around this time as well. According to an intelligence official and a Bay Area politico, Fang Fang took part in fundraising activity for Swalwell’s 2014 campaign and allegedly helped place an intern in his office, while also interacting with the California congressman at multiple events across several years.

Eventually, U.S. intelligence officials became so concerned with Fang Fang’s activities that they alerted Swalwell and other members of Congressional leadership in 2015. At the time, Pelosi was serving as House Minority Leader while McCarthy was the House Majority Leader, but McCarthy indicated he was not briefed then. Meanwhile, Swalwell  immediately cut ties with Fang Fang upon the defensive briefing, sources speaking to Axios said. McCarthy has questioned how long Pelosi knew about Swalwell’s ties to Fang Fang, and whether she was aware of them prior to appointing him to the influential House intel committee. 

Shortly after Axios broke its investigation of Swalwell’s ties to Fang Fang in 2020, top-level Democrats and Republicans, including then-House Minority Leader McCarthy and then-House Speaker Pelosi, received further briefings on the matter, which was followed by GOP calls for Swalwell to be removed from the HPSCI. The high-level committee exercises primary congressional oversight over the U.S. intelligence community and is privy to classified information other members of Congress are not.  

Swalwell has denied any wrongdoing and a multi-year congressional ethics report backed that assertion and did not take any further action against the congressman over his questionable associations.

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In 2021, House Republicans attempted to formally remove Swalwell from the House intel committee, but Democrats had the power and killed the bill. Upon the power in Congress shifting to Republican hands the following Congressional session, then-Speaker of the House McCarthy rejected Swalwell’s attempt to maintain his seat on the powerful committee and he was pushed out in 2023.

McCarthy said he wasn’t trying to take advantage of the opportunity to “punish” Democrats, but, rather, was so alarmed by Swalwell’s behavior that he felt it was necessary to protect national security. 

“Based upon my classified knowledge, and based upon being Speaker – the reports that have come to me are very disturbing, his continual actions and behavior,” McCarthy added. “I don’t understand how a man like him would consider running just based upon that knowledge.” 

A fence remains around some property at the Daly City coastline, blocking access to Thornton State Beach. Now, as the city said it is moving ahead with the removal of the fence. The man who erected it may have some ownership of at least a small portion of the land.

The fence went up abruptly a few weeks ago, and visitors to Thornton State Beach had an equally abrupt reaction.

“I haven’t been here for a while,” said visitor Roger Pokorny, “So, I drove up, I’m like, was there always an ugly fence?  Was there always this ugly fence around here?”

“It’s depressing,” said dogwalker Jeannine Yep.  “When I had the dogs at the beach, it’s so sad that someone would want to close this off so we can’t enjoy all of this.”

“Whoever did this seems to be mean-spirited, that’s all,” said a woman named D.A. “Doesn’t want people to enjoy nature.  What kind of a mind would want to block people from enjoying this beauty?”

The man behind the fence, living in a trailer on the vacant land, is Luke Brugnara.  

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said he was once a successful real estate investor in San Francisco. But in 2015, he was convicted of fraud in a deal to purchase artwork and sentenced to seven years in prison. He acted as his own attorney and was also charged with contempt of court during the trial, but the attorney at his appeals hearing, Dana Young, told the judge his actions may have been the result of a mental illness.

“Mr. Brugnara is willful, is one of the most obnoxious people I’ve ever met, frankly,” said Young. “And that was presented to the court. But we can’t say that just because somebody is obnoxious, somebody does have these things, that that is not a function of his underlying mental illness.”

The judges rejected that argument, and his appeal was denied.  

On Saturday, Daly City officials announced that they are taking action to remove the fence. They said it “was built without required permits and appears to extend into public areas,” blocking portions of the public right of way down to the beach.  

The city also said it is working to confirm property ownership to ensure that all owners are notified.  

The area inside the fence is actually multiple parcels with multiple owners, and there is a question of what land, if any, belongs to Brugnara.  

But on Sunday afternoon, Paul Nagy in North Carolina said he transferred his small portion of land to Brugnara because he was tired of the unsuccessful efforts to sell the property.

“I decided, well, the majority of people don’t seem to want to sell it, so I’m going to just basically give him the title to my portion of the property. To maybe motivate the other owners to sell,” Nagy said. “It was an outright gift, on the provision that I would get a proportion. Once the property was sold, I would get a proportion, I would get my proportion in share.”

Nagy said he believes city officials planned on taking the land over eventually through eminent domain and that he is disgusted that they never made the owners an offer.

“It’s not even forcing an issue,” he said. “I’m just washing my hands of it. This is me being Pontius Pilate, washing my hands of the whole issue.”

Any fence on the coastal bluff property would also require a permit from the California Coastal Commission, which was never issued.  

Daly City said the commission supports their enforcement efforts, and they have given a 10-day notice to remove the fence voluntarily or the city will take it down themselves.  

In the meantime, some residents are concerned about whether Brugnara poses a physical threat. Early on, a crude sign was posted, threatening to shoot anyone trespassing on the land.  

The sign is now gone and published reports say he was arrested by police on Jan. 22 and booked into San Mateo County Jail, but released the same day.

DENVER – Every Monday morning, one Meals on Wheels volunteer and his sons do much needed work in their community. For some homebound seniors, it’s not just a hot meal, it’s a familiar face, a conversation, and a reminder that someone cares. Mel Faes is a 100-year-old World War II veteran who has volunteered with Meals on Wheels for more than four decades.

“To have these services and to have people who care about you lets you live your life out in dignity,” said Cathy Law, a project manager with Volunteers of America Colorado’s retired and senior volunteer program.

Faes was born in 1925 and raised in north Denver. He joined the Army Air Force at 19 and served during World War II before returning home to work for the U.S. Postal Service for 34 years. But for the last 40 years, Mondays have been reserved for delivering meals to neighbors who need them.

“You can donate money here and there, but donating your time is more valuable,” Faes said.

On his route, Faes is now joined by his sons, John and Jim, who began helping with deliveries about five years ago when their father stopped driving.

“My dad, he’s a wonderful man,” John Faes said. “We can see how unselfish he’s always been his whole life, always wanting to do for the other.”

Richard Butler

While his sons handle the driving, Mel still insists on taking meals to the door whenever he can.

“Doing the meals, sometimes you’re the only person they see all day,” Mel Faes said.

That personal connection is what makes the program so important, according to Volunteers of America.

“It’s nourishment for the body, but it’s also nourishment for their soul,” Law said. “Without volunteers, we couldn’t run our program.”

Volunteers of America Colorado produces and serves nearly 3,000 meals a day across seven counties, relying on hundreds of volunteers to deliver meals to seniors who might otherwise go without.

Richard Butler

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For the Faes family, volunteering has become a shared experience.

“It means a lot to them, and it means a lot to us,” John Faes said. “It’s a humbling experience. It’s good for both parties.”

At 100 years old, Mel Faes shows no signs of slowing down.

“If people ask him what his secret to a long life is, he says, ‘Keep moving,’” his son John said.

That lifetime of service is celebrated with Denver7 and Levine Law recognizing Mel as a Denver7 Everyday Hero.

“We nominated Mel because of his giving, humble, amazing spirit,” Law said. “Not just for his military service, but for the way he continues to give back to the community over and over again.”

For Faes, the recognition is appreciated but it’s never been the reason he shows up.

Richard Butler

“It’s not really work,” he said. “It’s something you love to do.”

Volunteers of America Colorado says there is always a need for more Meals on Wheels volunteers. Those interested in delivering meals or supporting other programs can learn more and sign up on their website, where information about volunteer opportunities across the state are available.

Denver7 features a different Everyday Hero each week. To nominate a hero in your life, click here.