The story of disgraced former congressman Eric Swalwell is really a story about Nancy Pelosi. 

Pelosi, the first female speaker of the House, is being celebrated by the media as a heroine, as she retires from a long career in Congress this year. 

But Swalwell’s story reveals the dark side of Pelosi’s legacy.

For years, Swalwell infamously refused to talk about his relationship with Fang Fang, a suspected Chinese spy.

But according to files declassified this week, Swalwell admitted to the FBI in 2015 that he had had a sexual relationship with Fang Fang, who was also known as Christine Fang, before entering Congress.

The FBI discovered the relationship when it was conducting a counterintelligence investigation into Fang Fang. Swalwell reportedly cut ties with her after the FBI spoke with him about her.

Democrats put Swalwell on the House Intelligence Committee, regardless of his questionable past ties. What was even worse was that Pelosi kept Swalwell on the intelligence committee even after Axios revealed his relationship with Fang Fang publicly in 2020.

That was the height of arrogance — but par for the course for Pelosi, who valued political loyalty above all else. 

In 2006, Speaker-to-be Pelosi backed loyalist John Murtha for House majority leader, despite his past connections to shady deals, which violated her campaign pledge to rid D.C. of corruption.

She lost that battle, with Steny Hoyer taking the post instead. It was one of the last times she had to back down. 

She ruled her caucus with an iron fist, centralizing decision-making in the speaker’s office. She backed Obamacare over bipartisan opposition, and led her party to a historic defeat in 2010.

Most politicians would have resigned, at least from party leadership, after a failure like that. But Pelosi clung to power, crushing any challenges to her control.

When Democrats won the House in 2018, she returned to office to exact her revenge on President Donald Trump.

To that end, Pelosi empowered loyalists like Swalwell and Adam Schiff to pursue and impeach the president. 

Swalwell knew he was protected by the party leader. That was the context in which his alleged sexual misconduct against multiple women took place.

For Pelosi, elevating Swalwell wasn’t a simple mistake of judgment. It was part of her pattern of putting personal loyalty ahead of principle.

When the tributes to Pelosi are written, the Swalwell chapter of her career should not be forgotten.