Representative Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.) on Monday announced his resignation from Congress after four women, including a former staffer, came forward with sexual misconduct allegations against him.
After the San Francisco Chronicle revealed Friday that a former staffer had come forward with allegations that Swalwell sexually assaulted her on two occasions while she was intoxicated, CNN contributed accounts from three other women who accused the representative of sexual misconduct, including sending them unsolicited explicit messages or nude photos.
The backlash was swift — he lost all 21 of the endorsements he had received from fellow Democratic members of Congress; GOP Representative Anna Paulina Luna said she would move to expel him from Congress; and the House Ethics Committee and Manhattan District Attorney’s Office are investigating allegations against him. He was left with no choice but to suspend his campaign for California governor. He was largely considered the frontrunner in a wide-open race to replace term-limited Governor Gavin Newsom.
“To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,” Swalwell said, adding that he “will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s.”
Swalwell’s attorney, Elias Dabaie, said the disgraced representative denies allegations of sexual misconduct but acknowledges he has had “lapses in judgment.”
His resignation comes as the House was expected to vote on his potential expulsion this week, with a number of his colleagues saying they would support his ouster.
“Expelling anyone from Congress without due process, within days of an allegation being made, is wrong,” Swalwell said. “But it’s also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties.”
He did not say when exactly he would exit Congress. With Swalwell’s resignation, California Governor Gavin Newsom can decide whether to call a special election this close to an already scheduled election. The state’s primary is on June 2. Swalwell was no running for reelection because of his now-shuttered campaign for governor.
The sexual misconduct allegations are not Swalwell’s first scandal in his time as a congressman; in 2020, Axios reported that Chinese spy Christine “Fang Fang” Fang had raised money for Swalwell’s campaign. Fang had targeted American politicians with the aim of gaining “proximity to political power” with “campaign fundraising, extensive networking, personal charisma, and romantic or sexual relationships with at least two Midwestern mayors,” Axios reported at the time. Swalwell maintains he cut ties with Fang in 2015 after intelligence officials briefed him and other members of Congress about Chinese efforts to infiltrate the legislative body. He was not accused of impropriety after a House ethics investigation into the situation, however, the public sphere has long suspected Swalwell had a romantic relationship with the spy, though those claims have not been verified.
Swalwell is an attorney who briefly served as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County before joining the Dublin City Council. He was elected to the House in 2012 and rose to prominence thanks to his frequent appearances on cable news shows where he was a vocal critic of President Trump. Swalwell served as one of several managers of Trump’s second impeachment trial in 2021 over the events of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.