House GOP kept in dark

House Intelligence Committee Republicans were surprised to learn this week that a member of their panel, Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, was targeted by a suspected Chinese spy who slept with US politicians as a tactic to elicit information.

Swalwell, who represents a California district south of Oakland, received an FBI “defensive briefing” in 2015 on operative Fang Fang.

Fang, also known as Christine Fang, returned to China in mid2015 as US officials heightened their scrutiny of her string of honey-trap seductions. She reportedly raised funds for Swalwell’s 2014 reelection campaign before he joined the committee in 2015.

A GOP congressional source told The Post that committee Republicans had not been informed of the relationship.

The panel is supposed to have access to some of the nation’s most sensitive information to fulfill its oversight role of shadowy government programs.

If the Chinese operation occurred as described in a bombshell Tuesday article in Axios, it’s unclear why lawmakers, aside from Swalwell, were kept in the dark, especially since Fang may have targeted him due to his proximity to sensitive information.

The Post asked Swalwell’s 12 Democratic colleagues on the committee, including Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), about when they learned of Swalwell’s association with Fang, but they did not reply.

Swalwell has not said if he had a romantic relationship with Fang, who allegedly seduced two Midwest mayors as part of her operation from 2011 to 2015.

The issue is likely to dog Swalwell as Republicans demand more information.

“Did Schiff and [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi know? Why did no one take any steps to keep sensitive intel, at least as it relates to China, far away from a member who is at best potentially compromised?” a Republican close to the White House told The Post.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) asked in a Tuesday evening Fox News interview, “Did Nancy Pelosi know this had transpired when she put him on the committee?”

Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Pelosi (D-Calif.), declined to say when Pelosi learned of the relationship, but he told The Post that Swalwell is expected to retain his position on the committee.

“The speaker has full confidence in Congressman Swalwell’s service in the Congress and on the Intelligence Committee,” Hammill said.