Trump’s Lawfare Against Swalwell

These are the kinds of allegations, however serious they may be, that federal prosecutors would not normally pursue.

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Left: President Donald Trump delivers remarks in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington D.C., August 19, 2026. Right: Rep. Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.) attends a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., September 17, 2025.

Kylie Cooper, Annabelle Gordon/Reuters

There are two aspects to consider regarding President Donald Trump’s lawfare against his political enemy, former Democratic California Representative Eric Swalwell. They are temporally close but substantively distinct: publicizing confidential law enforcement to humiliate Swalwell and conducting a criminal investigation against him.

Let’s start with the latter. As Brittany has reported for National Review, the Justice Department has conducted court-authorized searches of electronic devices seized from Swalwell at the airport in San Francisco and, a day later, at his apartment in Washington, D.C. As I understand it, the ongoing FBI criminal investigation to which these seizures relate centers on allegations by a former Swalwell Hill staffer that he raped her.

Andrew C. McCarthy

About the Author

Andrew C. McCarthy

Andrew C. McCarthy is a senior fellow at National Review Institute, an NR contributing editor, and author of Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency.

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