A former aide to Rep. Eric Swalwell, a high Democratic candidate for governor of California, informed the San Francisco Chronicle that she had sexual encounters with him when he was her boss and alleged that he twice sexually assaulted her when she was too intoxicated to consent.
Subscribe to learn this story ad-free
Get limitless entry to ad-free articles and unique content material.
The lady labored for Swalwell from 2019 till 2021, NBC News confirmed. The lady’s lawyer declined to remark and NBC News has not verified her allegations.
Later Friday, NCS reported on sexual misconduct allegations towards Swalwell from 4 girls, together with one whose story matches the main points within the Chronicle account. Another lady informed NCS that Swalwell kissed her with out her consent in public and that she drank closely with him earlier than ending up in his lodge room, with no concept how she obtained there. A 3rd, Ally Sammarco, a Democratic influencer, mentioned Swalwell despatched her unsolicited pictures of his penis, while a fourth mentioned he despatched her unsolicited movies of his penis.
NBC News has not independently corroborated their tales. NCS mentioned it corroborated the ladies’s accounts by interviews with family and friends members, in addition to reviewing messages Swalwell exchanged with the ladies.
Swalwell didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark through his marketing campaign, congressional workplace or his legal professional. But in a video posted to social media Friday night time, Swalwell mentioned “these allegations of sexual assault are flat false.”
“They did not happen, they have never happened. And I will fight them with everything I have,” he mentioned.
“I do not suggest to you in any way that I am perfect or that I’m a saint. I have certainly made mistakes in judgment in my past,” he mentioned. “But those mistakes are between me and my wife. And to her I apologize deeply for putting her in this position.”
Swalwell mentioned he’ll spend time together with his household and mates, including that he “looks forward to updating you very soon.”
He didn’t touch upon his plans for the marketing campaign.
The video got here after Swalwell informed the Chronicle and NCS in equivalent statements that the ladies’s allegations are usually not true.
“These allegations are false and come on the eve of an election against the frontrunner for governor,” he wrote, later including: “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.”
His lawyer additionally “sent NCS a letter denying that Swalwell has ever had nonconsensual sex with any woman or ever had sexual relations with any member of his staff,” the community reported.
The former staffer informed the Chronicle that in September 2019, while she was employed by him, Swalwell invited her out for drinks, and she turned so intoxicated that she doesn’t keep in mind what occurred. She mentioned she awakened bare in his lodge mattress and will “feel the effect of vaginal intercourse.”
In April 2024, after she stopped working for the congressman, she mentioned she met Swalwell for drinks after a charity gala at which he was honored. She once more turned so inebriated while ingesting with him that she solely remembers “snippets” of the night, she informed the paper. One of the flashes she recalled was Swalwell having intercourse with her in his lodge room and her telling him no.
The Chronicle says it reviewed textual content messages she despatched to a pal about that encounter three days later, which included that she informed Swalwell to cease. The paper additionally interviewed her boyfriend on the time, who confirmed she informed him in regards to the alleged assault, and its reporters considered medical information that confirmed she sought being pregnant and STD assessments afterward.
In the times earlier than the story was printed on Friday, rumors bounced round each left-wing and right-wing social media about potential allegations towards the congressman associated to sexual misconduct. Swalwell was asked about the rumors by a reporter for KTXL in Sacramento, who mentioned she requested whether or not he had ever had inappropriate relations with a staffer or intern. “It’s false,” he replied.
Swalwell’s marketing campaign tried to get in entrance of any story, issuing a uncommon however vehement pre-emptive denial saying that the congressman had not engaged in any inappropriate conduct.
“This false, outrageous rumor is being spread 27 days before an election begins by flailing opponents who have sadly teamed up with MAGA conspiracy theorists because they know Eric Swalwell is the frontrunner in this race,” Micah Beasley, a marketing campaign spokesman, mentioned in a press release Wednesday.
The assertion didn’t point out or handle any particular allegations however mentioned in response to some on-line rumors that Swalwell had not requested anybody in his workplace to signal a nondisclosure settlement. The Chronicle’s report didn’t embody any allegations associated to NDAs.
“In 13 years, no one in Eric Swalwell’s Congressional office has ever been asked to sign an NDA. Ever,” Beasley mentioned in his Wednesday assertion. “In 13 years, not a single ethics complaint by any staff in his office or any other office has ever been lodged. Ever.”
After the Chronicle story printed on Friday, a number of Democrats withdrew their assist for Swalwell’s marketing campaign. Perhaps most notably, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, a fellow Bay Area Democrat who has been a detailed ally of Swalwell’s, prompt that he drop out of the race.
“This extremely sensitive matter must be appropriately investigated with full transparency and accountability,” she mentioned in a press release, including: “As I discussed with Congressman Swalwell, it is clear that is best done outside of a gubernatorial campaign.”
Reps. Jimmy Gomez and Adam Gray, each California Democrats, mentioned they had been stepping down as co-chairs of Swalwell’s marketing campaign and referred to as on him to drop his bid.
“Today’s reports about Eric Swalwell’s conduct while in office are deeply disturbing. Harassment, abuse, and violence of any sort are unacceptable,” Gray said on X.
Gomez referred to as the allegations “shocking” and “the ugliest and most serious accusations imaginable,” including that Swalwell “should leave the race now so there can be full accountability without doubt, distraction, or delay.”
The high three House Democrats — Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California — issued a joint assertion Friday night time calling for Swalwell to terminate his marketing campaign.
“Following the incredibly disturbing sexual assault accusations against Congressman Eric Swalwell, we call for a swift investigation into these incidents and for the Congressman to immediately end his campaign to be California’s next Governor,” the Democratic leaders mentioned.
Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego, a detailed pal of Swalwell’s, said he was withdrawing his endorsement, including he regretted “having come to his defense on social media prior to knowing all the information. I am equally as shocked and upset about what has transpired.”
“What is described is indefensible,” mentioned Gallego. “Women who come forward with accounts like this deserve to be heard with respect, not questioned or dismissed.”
The California Teachers Association additionally suspended its endorsement of Swalwell, while the California Federation of Labor Unions — which had endorsed Swalwell and three different Democratic candidates within the governor’s race — mentioned it was “acting urgently” to “determine next steps.”
On Friday, all of Swalwell’s marketing campaign adverts for his gubernatorial bid on Facebook and Instagram had been listed as “inactive,” together with adverts that had been working earlier within the day, in keeping with a evaluate of Meta’s advert archive.
The California major for governor will happen on June 2, with early voting beginning on May 4.
Swalwell, 45, has served in Congress since 2013 and launched a failed, long-shot bid for the White House in 2020.
He’s been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump in each of his phrases. After the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Pelosi named Swalwell, an legal professional, one of Democrats’ 9 impeachment prosecutors.
Swalwell’s sharp criticism of the president made him a goal of Trump allies and the correct. At the beginning of 2023, then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., blocked Swalwell from serving on the House Intelligence Committee, citing his ties to a 2014 marketing campaign volunteer who later was suspected to be a Chinese spy, Christina Fang. That 12 months, the House Ethics Committee took no action towards Swalwell after a two-year investigation into the matter.
Swalwell minimize ties with Fang in 2015 after the FBI gave him what’s generally known as a “defensive” briefing that she was working for Beijing and concentrating on a number of native rising politicians within the San Francisco Bay Area. Swalwell has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing within the Fang affair and mentioned he assisted the FBI in its investigation.
Last month, Swalwell asked the FBI to not launch recordsdata associated to his previous affiliation with the suspected Chinese intelligence operative.
When the House is again in session subsequent week, Swalwell might face a censure vote over the sexual misconduct allegations.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., said in a post on X Friday night time that she will introduce a privileged decision, which requires scheduling a ground vote inside two legislative days, “to censure you for sexually harassing the women who work in your office.”