Kash Patel’s FBI took the highly unusual step of asking federal air marshals to spy on one of President Donald Trump’s enemies during a transatlantic flight.
Former Democratic congressman and California gubernatorial candidate Eric Swalwell was one of Trump’s most outspoken critics before he ended his campaign and resigned from Congress over allegations of rape and other sexual misconduct.
He has denied the allegations but remains under state and federal investigation.
The U.S. Air Marshals Service covertly monitored Swalwell on Aug. 8 during a nine-hour flight from Frankfurt, Germany, to Washington, D.C., in a bid to obtain his electronic passcodes, according to The Atlantic.
Air marshals are trained to blend in with other passengers and usually surveil suspected terrorists or potential hijackers, not politicians.
Former officials told The Atlantic it was unusual for air marshals to obtain electronic passcodes, and said it would have made more sense for the FBI to put its own agents on the plane to conduct surveillance.
They also doubted the administration would have gone to such lengths to monitor someone who wasn’t reviled by the president.
Swalwell was the manager for Trump’s second impeachment trial following the deadly Capitol riot on Jan. 6. 2021, and has regularly accused the president of “treason.”
The directive for air-marshal surveillance said he was the “focus” of an FBI investigation, but it didn’t provide any details about what he was being investigated for, according to The Atlantic. Sexual assault is usually investigated by state and local authorities, not the FBI.
It’s also not clear whether the FBI operation succeeded in uncovering his passcodes.
A week later, on Aug. 15, Swalwell got off a plane at San Francisco Airport and was surrounded by FBI agents who were waiting for him with a search warrant, according to footage obtained by ABC 7.
He can be seen handing his mobile phone and personal computer to an agent, and then being escorted to a restricted area of the airport.
The next day, FBI agents searched his Bay Area home, according to both The Atlantic and ABC.
The warrant cited 18 U.S.C. 242, a federal civil rights statute that makes it a crime for anyone acting under the authority of the government to “willfully deprive” another person of federally protected rights.
Swalwell has been accused of raping a former staffer twice while she was intoxicated, and of drugging and raping a woman after promising to assist with her career.
But it’s not clear that the civil rights statute, which has historically been applied to police officers who abuse their power, would apply to a legislator, who doesn’t have the power to detain people, according to The Atlantic.
Sara Azari, Swalwell’s lawyer, told the magazine that the air-marshal surveillance was an “extraordinary escalation” against her client, who has not been charged with a crime.
“Mr. Swalwell’s private relationships between consenting adults have nothing to do with his office, his authority, or his official duties,” she added.
The FBI declined to comment, while the Transportation Security Administration, which runs the air marshal service, didn’t respond to The Atlantic’s request for comment. The Daily Beast has also reached out.
