A former staffer of Rep. Eric Swalwell, a main Democratic candidate for California governor, says that the congressman raped her when she was closely intoxicated and left her bruised and bleeding, an allegation Swalwell strongly denies.
“I was pushing him off of me, saying no,” the lady informed NCS of the incident, which she mentioned occurred in 2024 after she had stopped working in Swalwell’s workplace. “He didn’t stop.”
She mentioned it was the second time Swalwell had nonconsensual sexual contact with her whereas she was drunk. In 2019, when she was nonetheless working for him, she mentioned she wakened bare with him in a resort room after a evening of heavy ingesting. She mentioned she had no reminiscence of what occurred however might really feel bodily that they’d had sexual contact.
Three different women who spoke with NCS additionally alleged varied sorts of sexual misconduct by the Democratic congressman – including Swalwell sending them unsolicited specific messages or nude pictures.
One girl who linked on-line with Swalwell over her curiosity in Democratic politics says she ended up extraordinarily drunk inside his resort room after a evening out with the congressman, with little reminiscence of what occurred. Earlier within the evening at a bar, he kissed her and touched her leg with out her consent, she mentioned.
Another girl, who described receiving unsolicited nude messages from Swalwell, was social media creator Ally Sammarco. She mentioned she initially reached out to the congressman on Twitter to debate politics. “I truly never thought he would respond – I had like 1,000 followers at the time,” she mentioned. “And he actually responded.”
Swalwell denied the women’s allegations.
“These allegations are false and come on the eve of an election against the front-runner for governor,” Swalwell mentioned in a assertion to NCS. “For nearly 20 years, I have served the public – as a prosecutor and a congressman and have always protected women. I will defend myself with the facts and where necessary bring legal action. My focus in the coming days is to be with my wife and children and defend our decades of service against these lies.”
An lawyer for Swalwell despatched two of the women NCS spoke with cease-and-desist letters on Thursday, a day after NCS first reached out to his marketing campaign to request remark, in accordance with copies of the letters they offered NCS. The letters known as the women’s accounts “false,” ordered them to retract their statements and warned of potential authorized motion in the event that they proceed talking out.
The letters mentioned the women’s claims have been “undermined” by their “voluntary and cooperative relationship with Mr. Swalwell over the course of many years” following the alleged incidents, including the former staffer asking him for job references.
His lawyer additionally despatched NCS a letter denying that Swalwell has ever had nonconsensual intercourse with any girl or ever had sexual relations with any member of his workers.
One member of Swalwell’s workers mentioned they give up instantly after receiving NCS’s detailed record of questions concerning the allegations.
NCS discovered corroboration for key components of every of the women’s claims, including the former staffer who mentioned she was sexually assaulted. Two members of the family and a pal mentioned in interviews with NCS that she informed them concerning the alleged 2024 assault within the following days, and NCS additionally reviewed textual content messages she despatched two associates describing her allegations on the similar time. “I was sexually assaulted on Thursday,” she wrote to one among her associates, including: “By Eric.”
The girl additionally shared medical data associated to her receiving STD and being pregnant testing after the alleged assault.
For the lady who linked on-line with Swalwell over Democratic politics, a member of the family and two associates confirmed she informed them final 12 months concerning the incident the place she ended up intoxicated in his resort room. NCS additionally reviewed messages between her and Swalwell, including a picture he despatched her that matches footage of him throughout a NCS interview in her metropolis on the evening they met in particular person.
The women described a comparable sample of occasions: Swalwell, who is married and has three kids, confirmed shut curiosity of their lives once they have been of their twenties and discovering their footing professionally, making them really feel particular and even starstruck. Then, they mentioned, he would ship them more and more sexual messages. Many mentioned they reciprocated and engaged with him partially due to his place of energy. In some circumstances, these inappropriate exchanges escalated to alleged undesirable bodily contact or sexual assault, typically tied to episodes of heavy ingesting.
The women requested to not be named out of worry of retaliation by Swalwell or skilled penalties for talking out towards him.
NCS reviewed screenshots of dozens of messages Swalwell exchanged with the women, a lot of that are flirtatious in nature. None of the messages reviewed by NCS are sexually specific. The women mentioned Swalwell usually despatched extra graphic messages through Snapchat, the place messages are routinely deleted after brief intervals of time. Snapchat additionally warns senders if screenshots are captured.
The allegations come as Swalwell – a congressman from the San Francisco Bay Area, former presidential candidate, and fixture on cable information – has ascended within the polls in California’s aggressive governor’s race.
Rumors about misbehavior by Swalwell have circulated on social media in latest weeks, broadcast by a group of progressive social media influencers. Most of the women who spoke to NCS initially reached out to one among these influencers, and mentioned that earlier than the social media consideration, they’d assumed they have been alone of their experiences with Swalwell.
Three key influencers informed NCS that they weren’t being paid by different campaigns and had not coordinated straight with them in publicizing claims about Swalwell.
“This has always been about getting justice for these women and exposing the truth,” mentioned Cheyenne Hunt, a lawyer and former congressional candidate who has shared messages highlighting allegations about Swalwell on social media.
NCS additionally spoke to different women who labored for Swalwell and mentioned that they’d by no means had any inappropriate interactions with him, with a few of them describing him as a supportive and caring boss.
But a number of of the women who made allegations about Swalwell mentioned that the congressman’s actions had long-term implications on their lives, leaving them confused, distraught and scared. They mentioned they determined to return ahead after listening to rumors that they weren’t alone of their experiences with the congressman.
“I always felt like if I came forward, I was going to suffer the consequences because he was so powerful,” the former staffer who accused Swalwell of assaulting her mentioned, including, “I’ve lived in fear every single day.”
The former Swalwell staffer mentioned she began interning for him in 2019 when she was 20 years previous, earlier than she graduated from faculty. At the time, Swalwell was a rising star within the Democratic occasion. A former prosecutor who had defeated a 40-year incumbent to win his suburban San Francisco Bay Area congressional seat, Swalwell made a identify for himself as a member of the House Intelligence Committee and an outspoken opponent of President Donald Trump.
In April 2019, Swalwell launched an underdog presidential bid, pitching himself as a generational change agent. Inspired by his deal with gun management, the lady moved to California to affix Swalwell’s marketing campaign as a junior staffer. “I just believed in what he had to offer so much,” she mentioned.
After Swalwell dropped out of the presidential race in July 2019, she moved to a job in his district workplace.
As the lady, who was by then 21, started to work extra intently with Swalwell, planning occasions, arranging his journey, and driving him round his district, he struck up a private relationship with her. She mentioned that Swalwell, who was 38, praised her work within the workplace, bringing her to conferences and introducing her to political figures.
“When he talked to you, it was like the sun was shining on you,” she mentioned. “You felt like the coolest person in the room.”
The two started messaging one another on Snapchat, she mentioned. On that platform, she mentioned, Swalwell started making sexual feedback and despatched her pictures of his penis and of him shirtless. He additionally requested her to ship him pictures of herself, including nude pictures, which she did. She mentioned she discovered the eye flattering, but additionally felt nervous as a result of he was her boss.
The girl’s mom informed NCS that her daughter informed her some months later that Swalwell was speaking with her over Snapchat, and he or she and her husband discovered it inappropriate. But the lady didn’t inform her dad and mom at the moment that the messages have been sexual, the mom mentioned.
Because the messages on Snapchat have been routinely deleted, she mentioned she has no screenshots of their exchanges on the app.
“There was Eric the Snapchatting guy, and then there was Eric my boss,” the former staffer mentioned. “It was like two different people completely.”
In 2019, when she was driving Swalwell round his district as a part of her workers duties, he informed her to cease in a car parking zone, pulled out his penis, and requested her to offer him oral intercourse, she mentioned. She mentioned she briefly complied, earlier than stopping and telling Swalwell she was uncomfortable.
“He said to me, ‘You’re right, it’s probably not good for a congressman to be caught with his pants down,’” she informed NCS.
In September 2019, she was alone with Swalwell at a bar in his district after a informal gathering with staffers, she mentioned. “I was really, really drunk,” she mentioned.
She mentioned she remembers getting an Uber, after which the following factor she remembered, she wakened in Swalwell’s resort room the next morning, bare in mattress with him.
“I know that there was sexual contact because when I woke up in the morning, I could feel that there was,” she mentioned. Swalwell informed her that “last night was great” however she ought to get going, she mentioned.
That day, she was scheduled to accompany Swalwell to a “hike with your congressman” occasion at a native park; a itemizing for the occasion seems on Swalwell’s congressional Facebook web page. At the occasion, she remembered, “I could still feel physically what had happened to me,” however she mentioned Swalwell ignored her, treating her like “someone who he had never seen before in his life.”
Later on Snapchat, she mentioned, Swalwell was a lot friendlier, telling her how good their sexual encounter was. “I said to him, ‘I really don’t remember it at all,’” she mentioned. “And he was like, ‘Well, next time, we have to make sure you remember it.’”
The former staffer mentioned that she didn’t inform anybody about both of the incidents with Swalwell on the time. “I just felt so dirty and gross, and it just became a secret that I lived with,” she mentioned. She mentioned it wasn’t clear to her on the time that she had been sexually assaulted, however that she later realized that the encounter was not consensual as a result of she had been so intoxicated.
Swalwell regularly started Snapchatting her much less incessantly, she mentioned. She moved to a new job in Swalwell’s Washington, DC, workplace, and left for a new job about a 12 months later. But Swalwell stayed in contact with her, she mentioned, recommending her for jobs and messaging with her occasionally. The former staffer mentioned she tried to remain in contact with Swalwell due to his standing as a congressman.
Then in April 2024, when the former staffer was 25, Swalwell was invited to talk at a gala in New York City that she attended. NCS reviewed video of Swalwell’s speech on the occasion, and a picture of the lady there. The girl mentioned she determined to get drinks with Swalwell as a result of he was a highly effective particular person in her subject.
The two received drinks at Swalwell’s resort and a close by bar, and Swalwell was completely skilled, she mentioned. Federal marketing campaign spending data present that Swalwell’s congressional marketing campaign incessantly made purchases at each places she named.
After the gala, she mentioned met up with some colleagues after which despatched Swalwell a Snapchat message inviting him to get one other drink. One of the colleagues she was with informed NCS that she informed them on the time that she was going to get a drink with Swalwell. The colleague requested to not be named.
When Swalwell got here in a automotive to select her up, he put his hand on her leg. “I said, ‘No funny business, like, that’s not what this is,’” she remembered. “And he was like, ‘Okay, okay.’”
But then over drinks, Swalwell informed the former staffer that he’d been obsessive about her and he’d by no means cheated on his spouse besides with her, she mentioned. “I guess I liked the attention, but I never wanted to sleep with him,” she remembered.
As the evening progressed, she mentioned, the 2 went to a different bar and continued ingesting. She mentioned she was closely intoxicated and doesn’t bear in mind leaving the bar.
The subsequent factor the former staffer remembered, she was in mattress with Swalwell in his resort room and he was having intercourse with her, she mentioned. She mentioned she remembers “flashes of that evening, of him on top of me, me pushing him off, him grabbing me.”
“I was pushing him off of me, saying no,” she mentioned. “He didn’t stop.”
The former staffer wakened in Swalwell’s resort room the following morning alone and “completely confused,” she mentioned. She had been sporting a gown she wanted another person to zip, so she wrapped herself in a blanket, ran out of the resort, and took the primary cab she noticed again to her personal resort, she mentioned. She mentioned she rapidly known as her mom, who confirmed her account in an interview with NCS.
“My vagina was bleeding the next day after the sex, I had cuts and bruises on my body,” she mentioned. When she regarded within the mirror later, “I could see the bruises of where his hand had been on my rib cage and on my legs and near my thighs,” she remembered.
Swalwell messaged her on Snapchat that day saying that the earlier evening was nice and that he hoped she remembered it this time, and telling her to not inform anybody, she mentioned.
She informed her companion that Swalwell had assaulted her when she returned house that day, her companion confirmed in an interview with NCS, saying that “she was just so distraught.” She additionally informed two different associates about being assaulted by Swalwell over the next days, in accordance with screenshots of textual content messages she shared with NCS and an interview with one of many associates. In each textual content message chains, she referred to the identical factor occurring to her up to now, writing in a single message, “this happened one other time when I was working for him… same pattern: I blacked out and he had sex with me.” Her companion, mom and pal requested to not be named.
Several days later, she went to a well being clinic and received an STD check, and offered screenshots exhibiting that appointment to NCS. She mentioned she informed her medical supplier that she had been assaulted by a congressman, and the supplier on the clinic referred to her as “a survivor” in an internet message about her check outcomes, a screenshot exhibits.
She mentioned she by no means confronted Swalwell straight concerning the assault or reported it to the police partially as a result of she believed him when he informed her he hadn’t made sexual advances towards different women.
“I kept figuring out ways to blame myself: I shouldn’t have reached out to him at all, I should have left, I should have done this,” she mentioned. “Well, Eric shouldn’t have raped me.”
In February, as his marketing campaign for governor was choosing up steam, Swalwell and his marketing campaign supervisor each texted her, providing her work for his marketing campaign, screenshots she offered to NCS present. She declined.
“I’ve always lived with a huge secret,” she mentioned. “I’m not speaking up because I’m looking to ruin Eric Swalwell. The only person who could ruin Eric Swalwell is Eric Swalwell.”
Another girl, who had an curiosity in Democratic politics, mentioned she started messaging with Swalwell on-line in 2025 after responding to one among his Instagram tales, joking that she may run for workplace herself. A pair days later, she mentioned, Swalwell adopted her and inspired her to become involved in politics. He later despatched her his telephone quantity.
The girl and Swalwell started texting over a number of weeks, including late at evening, discussing politics and their earlier work expertise as bartenders, screenshots of messages she shared with NCS present. She mentioned she was shocked that a congressman was paying her consideration. “I kind of almost felt like I was getting catfished,” she mentioned.
In spring 2025, Swalwell mentioned he occurred to be coming to her metropolis and requested to satisfy. He requested for her options for a resort and locations to go, the messages present.
Swalwell and the lady met for dinner and drinks at a steakhouse. She mentioned she informed her mom concerning the assembly with Swalwell upfront, and her mom confirmed that in an interview with NCS. Swalwell requested her about her work historical past in what appeared virtually like a job interview, she recalled.
Partway via their dialog, Swalwell informed her that he needed to do a NCS interview, and went again to his resort room. As he was ready for his stay TV hit, Swalwell texted her a picture asking her how he regarded, in accordance with a screenshot she offered to NCS. That picture matched Swalwell’s look within the interview, and Swalwell additionally informed the NCS anchor that he was visiting the town the place the lady lived, in accordance with NCS’s recording.
Afterward, Swalwell took the lady to a different bar, the place they sat in a again sales space, she mentioned. “He was sitting against me, and so I kind of moved away from him, and every time that I would move away from him, he would get closer to me,” she remembered. He touched her leg and ordered a drink for her.
The girl mentioned she tried to show the dialog to her companion and Swalwell’s spouse and youngsters, however Swalwell continued to the touch her. She started to get extra intoxicated and felt “really fuzzy,” even unintentionally strolling into the boys’s toilet within the bar, she mentioned.
After she returned to the sales space, Swalwell kissed her, she mentioned. “I was shocked that he would do that right in the middle of a public bar,” she mentioned. She mentioned she informed him it was incorrect, however didn’t need to burn a bridge with a distinguished congressman, so she stayed on the bar whilst she was getting extra intoxicated.
The girl mentioned she then ended up in Swalwell’s resort room with none reminiscence of how she received there. She mentioned that her reminiscence of what occurred in Swalwell’s resort room is “a blur.” She ended up leaving the resort at 5:41 a.m., in accordance with a screenshot of an Uber receipt she offered to NCS.
The subsequent day, she mentioned, Swalwell despatched her disappearing iPhone voice messages saying that he wished to make sure that his spouse didn’t discover out about what occurred, she mentioned.
She felt emotionally weak and distraught within the following weeks, she mentioned, telling her mom about a month after the very fact about what had occurred, and later telling two shut associates. All three confirmed to NCS in interviews that she had shared her story with them. One pal mentioned that she informed them about her expertise with Swalwell in December 2025, whereas the opposite mentioned she couldn’t bear in mind when particularly she was informed.
She mentioned she informed Swalwell that she felt “really disgusted and ashamed” about what occurred, however he continued contacting her, including providing to make use of his place to assist her renew her passport or saying he might write her a letter of advice for her regulation faculty functions.
A couple of days earlier than he introduced his gubernatorial bid in November, he texted her, asking how she was, in accordance with screenshots she offered to NCS. The following month, she despatched him a lengthy message telling him that “all you did was harm me,” and asking him to not contact her once more.
“I won’t bother you again!” Swalwell responded. “Sorry.”
The girl mentioned she continued to remain in contact with Swalwell after that, nonetheless, exchanging some pleasant messages with him, in what she likened to Stockholm syndrome.
In the cease-and-desist letter to the lady, Swalwell’s lawyer argued that a few of these textual content messages, including one wherein she mentioned “you would be an amazing governor,” raised doubt about her account.
The girl informed NCS she determined to talk out about what occurred to her after listening to rumors about different women accusing Swalwell of misconduct, and realizing she wasn’t alone.
“I suffered a lot in silence… I had no desire to ever come after him or ever come out saying something,” she mentioned. But she concluded that Swalwell “used my vulnerabilities and the fact that I looked up to him to be able to get something from it,” she added.
Explicit messages and nudes
Two different women informed NCS that Swalwell had despatched them unsolicited pictures of his penis and different sexual messages on Snapchat after connecting on social media in 2021.
Sammarco mentioned she first linked with Swalwell after messaging him on Twitter in August 2021, asking him about his historical past of rising up in a Republican household.
Swalwell despatched her pleasant messages on Twitter, screenshots she offered to NCS present, asking her about her life and work in politics, and despatched her his telephone quantity. They started texting, and he provided to share her resume with different congressional places of work to assist her get a job on Capitol Hill.
Eventually, Sammarco mentioned, Swalwell began texting her late at evening to ask private questions. He despatched her a picture of himself ingesting wine at house, she mentioned. One screenshot she offered to NCS exhibits Swalwell musing whether or not he ought to “pour a nightcap,” and telling the influencer “now you’re the bad angel tempting me” when she mentioned he ought to. In one other message she confirmed NCS, he requested, “are you on snap?”
Starting in September 2021, Sammarco mentioned, she and Swalwell exchanged messages on Snapchat virtually day-after-day. Swalwell “became very inappropriate, like saying about how hot he thought I was, insinuating we should get together and hook up,” she mentioned. “He was always like drunk texting me, saying, ‘Oh, I’m having a drink. What are you doing?’ And I’m like, ‘I am out with my friends.’ Like, I’m 24.”
The congressman despatched Sammarco selfies of himself in mattress or shirtless, in addition to unsolicited pictures of his penis, she mentioned.
Swalwell requested Sammarco the place she lived, she mentioned, after which ran by her condo constructing a number of instances, stopping to say hello and giving her hugs however not coming inside. Swalwell additionally gave her a private tour of the Capitol, she mentioned.
Their contacts fizzled out when Sammarco met her boyfriend, now her husband, in December 2021, she mentioned. Swalwell “tried multiple times to message me on Snapchat again… and I just, like, won’t respond,” she mentioned. They maintained some contact within the subsequent years, in accordance with messages reviewed by NCS.
Then in November 2025, the identical month Swalwell introduced his gubernatorial run, he messaged Sammarco once more, congratulating her on her “social media dominance,” in accordance with a screenshot she offered to NCS.
Another girl, who works in advertising, mentioned Swalwell first reached out to her on Twitter in April 2021, when she was in her late twenties, after she preferred a number of of his posts. “When someone like him starts to talk to you – it’s like, why is he interested in me?” she mentioned.
They started messaging on Snapchat, and the dialog grew to become flirty and sexual after about a month, she mentioned. Swalwell typically requested swimsuit or nude pictures of the lady, which she generally despatched. He despatched her a number of movies of his penis, which she didn’t ask for, she mentioned.
The two by no means met in particular person, however messaged on and off for 4 years, she mentioned. She mentioned Swalwell often initiated contact. At some factors, Swalwell provided to assist her with her profession, although she mentioned she by no means took him up on it.
In one flirty change reviewed by NCS, Swalwell complimented her on a swimsuit picture she’d shared on Instagram and mentioned it had been too lengthy since they’d final messaged, in accordance with screenshots she offered to NCS. “That swimsuit. Fuck,” he wrote.
NCS spoke with two associates who mentioned the lady informed them about Swalwell sending her photographs of his penis and sexually specific messages on the time it was occurring. One pal additionally mentioned they reviewed a Snapchat video that wasn’t sexually specific that Swalwell despatched to her.
The girl mentioned she felt “embarrassed and kind of ashamed” about her exchanges with Swalwell.
“When you’re getting unsolicited dick videos sent to you, it just makes you feel like I’m lesser than a person,” she mentioned. “I just wish I’d never answered him.”
NCS’s Curt Devine and Yahya Abou-Ghazala contributed to this report.
CORRECTION: This story has been up to date to clarify the former staffer mentioned she began interning for Rep. Eric Swalwell earlier than she graduated faculty, not after, as initially reported.