Escalating feud between Tucker Carlson and Eric Swalwell threatens to embroil ambitious GOP lawmaker

The increasingly ugly feud between Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) and Fox News host Tucker Carlson is threatening to embroil an ambitious Republican congressman.

The California Democrat used to appear frequently on Carlson's prime-time program, but their relationship deteriorated after the Fox News host latched onto reports about Swalwell's ties to a Chinese spy -- and their feud has dragged in the congressman's wife, the broadcaster's son and the son's boss, Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), reported The Daily Beast.

"It feels like a family affair," Swalwell told the website. "It's gone from politics to the personal. It's clear it's not just directed at me now, it's at my family."

Swalwell was among several politicians targeted by Chinese spy Christine Fang, who reportedly took part in fundraising for his 2014 campaign, but he cut ties with her and contacted the FBI after he learned of her background, and Carlson has frequently highlighted their ties and has graphically claimed the congressman had sex with her.

Carlson then suggested Swalwell had improperly spent $20,000 in campaign cash at the Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay, where his wife Brittany Watts previously worked as a sales director, and Swalwell then mentioned the broadcaster's son after he mocked Capitol police officer Harry Dunn, who testified about the racist abuse he endured during the Jan. 6 insurrection.

"Forever grateful to officers like Harry Dunn. He put his body between lawmakers and an armed mob. You know who else Officer Dunn protected…Tucker Carlson's son, a House staffer," Swalwell tweeted. "RT if you stand with Harry and against white supremacy."

Buckley Carlson then contacted Swalwell's press secretary Jessica Gail to give her a "heads up" about an unflattering report about the congressman that he was involved in, and Breitbart News ran a July 26 story claiming a report had circulated in the "U.S. intelligence community" about an affair between Swalwell and Fang -- and the elder Carlson showed a photoshopped image of the pair in bed during one of his segments hyping the allegations.

"Father and son are certainly allowed to talk about who they perceive as a common enemy," Swalwell said. "But when the son works for the House of Representatives and is doing his father's bidding on official House email and at his desk on his official phone, that crosses the line. The House of Representatives is not supposed to be air support for Fox News."

The connection between the Fox News broadcaster and his son's Capitol Hill boss has rankled some Republicans, as well, who see Banks appear frequently on Carlson's prime time program without mention of his son's service in his office.

"The amount that Tucker carries Banks' water is not lost on anyone on the Republican side of the Hill," said one Republican aide.