Days before Christmas, a Florida man was arrested for making a series of disturbing threats to kill U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell and his three young children, according to the Department of Justice.
Swalwell, 43, D-Calif., was not named in the criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday, but the lawmaker acknowledged that he and his family were the target of violent threats. Ta.
“No threat will prevent me from representing my constituents,” the California Democrat wrote to X. “MAGA Republicans are choosing violence over voting, and this is what it is. But I'm not going to walk away, and you don't have to either.”
The suspect is The Ministry of Justice announced in a statement Michael Shapiro, 72, of Greenacres, Florida, is accused of leaving five abusive voicemails for Swalwell at his Washington, D.C., congressional office on Dec. 19.
One of the messages Shapiro allegedly left from his home reportedly read:[expletive].I'm going to chase you and kill you [N-word]” according to a six-page federal complaint obtained by the Post.
In another voicemail, Shapiro allegedly said:[expletive]. Kill your children. ”
Mr. Shapiro's voicemail messages also repeatedly referenced subsequent allegations linking Mr. Swalwell to suspected Chinese spy Christine Fang, also known as “Fan Huang.”
“Hey, Greaseball, you [expletive] be [expletive] Chinese spy. Fan Fan,” according to a transcript of one recording.
In May, the House Ethics Committee concluded its two-year investigation into the alleged relationship between Mr. Swalwell and Mr. Fang without recommending further action.
Huang, who came to the United States as a college student more than a decade ago, helped raise money for Swalwell's 2014 re-election campaign and reportedly met with Swalwell at several events over the years.
She is accused of conducting a honeytrap to gather government information from up-and-coming members of Congress.
Mr. Swalwell was contacted by the FBI in 2015 about suspicious activity by his flamboyant campaign volunteer, prompting him to cut off all contact with Mr. Fang.
Mr. Swalwell was never charged with wrongdoing in the espionage case, but the scandal still cost him his seat on the House Intelligence Committee last year.
Swalwell and his wife Brittany Watts have been married since 2016 and have three children, the youngest of whom was a boy named Hank, born in 2021.
Shapiro made his first court appearance Wednesday on a charge of communicating threats and was released on bail.
This isn't the first time Shapiro has run afoul of the law regarding threatening voicemails.
A Florida man pleaded guilty in federal court in 2019 to sending threatening communications to another victim, according to the complaint.
