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Donald Trump hasn’t been subtle about his contempt for Rep. Eric Swalwell. In recent years, the president has condemned the California Democrat as “a loser,” “a lowlife,” an “idiot” and a “total sleazebag.” If the Republican has an enemies list specifically focused on members of Congress, it’s probably fair to say that Swalwell is near the top....

Almost five months later, however, the campaign against Swalwell — now a leading Democratic gubernatorial candidate in California — appears to be taking an even more aggressive turn. The Washington Post reported:

FBI Director Kash Patel is pressing to release a decade-old investigative file involving Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-California) and a suspected Chinese intelligence operative, recently dispatching agents in the bureau’s San Francisco office to quickly redact the files before they are released publicly despite no evidence of wrongdoing by Swalwell, according to three people familiar with the effort.

The potential release is part of the Trump administration’s aggressive push to investigate Swalwell, a vocal critic of President Donald Trump and a leading Democratic candidate for California governor, according to the people familiar with the effort.

......If the latest reporting is correct, however, the Trump loyalist leading the FBI wants the decade-old investigative file released anyway. The Post’s report, highlighting the obvious, noted, “It is highly unusual for the FBI to release case files tied to a probe that did not result in criminal charges.”

Over the weekend, Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said in a statement, “The FBI is attempting to smear a sitting U.S. Congressman, candidate for governor, and vocal opponent of the president. What the hell does that have to do with law enforcement? This is plain weaponization of the FBI for partisan political purposes. … The abuse of government information is out of control.”....

Time will tell what comes of this, but whether Team Trump appreciates this or not, there’s a very real possibility that the alleged smear campaign will backfire. Let’s not forget that Adam Schiff’s Democratic Senate campaign in California benefited enormously from Trump’s attacks: The then-representative was able to tell voters honestly that the Republican president and his allies hated him, which made Schiff even more popular in one of the nation’s most Democratic-leaning states.