Eric Swalwell is still legally married to his wife, Brittany Watts, based on the latest publicly reported information. Neither Swalwell nor Watts has announced a divorce or legal separation.
However, questions about their marriage have resurfaced after newly declassified FBI documents detailed Swalwell’s past physical relationship with suspected Chinese intelligence operative Christine “Fang Fang” Fang.
People had reported in May 2026 that Watts had been living separately from Swalwell following separate sexual assault allegations against the former California congressman.
Swalwell, 45, married Brittany Watts in 2016 after meeting through mutual friends. The couple shares three children together.
A source quoted by People said Watts “is extremely strong, successful and very capable of leaving him." However, since the single sighting of Watts without the wedding ring outside their Washington DC residence, there is no public update on the status of their marriage
People reported that Watts is living separately after the sexual assault rumors with their three kids Nelson, 8, Cricket, 7, and Hank, 4.
The source further said she had no prior knowledge of the allegations surrounding her husband. “She had no knowledge of what was happening and is grappling with the same shock, hurt and disbelief that people close to the family are feeling," the report quoted.
Swalwell had publicly apologized to his wife at the time as he suspended his gubernatorial campaign. He also later resigned from Congress.
The White House Government Transparency Task Force released the declassified FBI records on Monday after President Donald Trump authorized their disclosure. The documents describe two FBI interviews with Swalwell in 2015 and 2016 during an investigation into Christine Fang’s political activities in the US.
According to the records, Swalwell told FBI agents he had “physical relations” with Fang on a “handful of occasions.” He described the relationship as casual and said they never dated or had a romantic relationship. The documents state that the last physical encounter occurred in March 2015. During another interview, Swalwell reportedly said he had little memory of one encounter because he had taken the sleep medication Ambien before Fang arrived at his apartment.
The files also allege Fang encouraged Swalwell to visit China, referred prospective interns to his office and facilitated campaign contributions through intermediaries. The FBI investigated whether any federal corruption laws had been broken. But they ultimately concluded there was insufficient evidence that Swalwell participated in a quid pro quo arrangement.
Shirin Gupta is a content producer with the Hindustan Times. She covers everything between politics, entertainment and sports at the US desk. Shirin got interested in political journalism during her time as a web editor at her college newspaper NCC News in Syracuse when she first started seeing the effects of national politics in life of her fellow colleagues. Shirin has worked on a wide range of fast-moving and developing stories locally when she was at NCC editing accessible reports for the audience. Her current role requires her to track real-time updates, verify information and present balanced coverage across diverse beats. Covering US politics from an international newsroom perspective has further deepened her understanding of how domestic decisions can have far-reaching global consequences. With a keen interest in international affairs, Shirin continues to build her expertise in geopolitics, policy shifts, and cross-border developments. She aims to learn and evolve her reporting in matters of geopolitics and international issues. Outside the newsroom Shirin writes about books and music for her personal blog. She is an avid consumer of pop culture and reveres literature.Read More
