I just realized who Eric Swalwell reminds me of, looks-wise: Michael Weatherly, that d-bag from NCIS. And like Weatherly, Swalwell is really gross to women. In recent days, CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle have both released exclusives on Eric Swalwell’s lengthy history of using his position as a congressman to abuse much-younger female staffers. Swalwell was considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, and before these stories broke, he was topping the polls for the Democratic nomination for California’s governor’s race. On Sunday, Swalwell dropped out of the Democratic primary. 24 hours later, he’s now resigning his congressional seat.
Eric Swalwell, a Democratic congressman from the San Francisco Bay Area, said on Monday that he is resigning after allegations that he sexually assaulted a former staff member and engaged in misconduct with other women.
The accusations, published in articles by The San Francisco Chronicle and CNN, prompted rescinded endorsements in the governor’s race, a criminal investigation and, now, Mr. Swalwell’s exit from politics. The lawmaker has denied what he described as “the serious false allegation made against me,” but apologized to his family, staff and constituents “for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past” in a statement Monday.
Mr. Swalwell, 45, suspended his campaign for governor on Sunday after having been a Democratic front-runner in a wide-open race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, who cannot run again because of term limits.
The House was expected to vote on whether to expel Mr. Swalwell this week, and a growing number of Mr. Swalwell’s colleagues — many of them Democratic women — said they would support forcing him out. The House Ethics Committee also announced it would investigate the allegations.
“Expelling anyone from Congress without due process, within days of an allegation being made, is wrong,” Mr. Swalwell said. “But it’s also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties.”
He did not offer a timeline for his resignation. Under California law, Gov. Gavin Newsom can decide whether to call a special election when a congressional office becomes vacant this close to a regularly scheduled election.
I’m fine with him resigning – it was more than likely that the votes were there to expel him from Congress anyway, so he saved Democrats a lot of time and energy. If he steps down quickly, I’m sure Gavin Newsom will find a way to call a special election pretty soon as well. Given that there’s already a big governor’s race, it would make sense to package everything together. I don’t want to see any whataboutism on Swalwell either – there is enough evidence to suggest that he is a serial abuser of women and this is exactly what should happen to him. The Democrats took out their trash over the course of 72 hours. Meanwhile, the Republicans are still slavishly devoted to enabling Donald Trump, a serial predator, misogynist and demented fascist madman for a full decade. The two parties are not the same.
Also: I keep seeing tweets from Hill staffers and DC politicos who are super-eager to claim that they have insider knowledge Swalwell’s behavior. Don’t believe everything you read on social media. From what I understand, most people in DC thought he was a womanizer who cheated on his wife constantly – I don’t believe it was common knowledge that he was assaulting or raping women.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
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- US House Judiciary committee hearing on “Oversight of the Department of Justice: Political Interference and Threats to Prosecutorial Independence” on Capitol Hill. Featuring: Eric Swalwell Where: Washington, District of Columbia, United States When: 24 Jun 2020 Credit: InStar/Cover Images **ONLY AVAILABLE FOR SUBSCRIPTION CLIENTS. CONTACT INFO@COVERMG.COM TO DISCUSS OTHER USAGES.**
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- Sean Penn and Ann Lee host The 2022 CORE Gala at the Hollywood Palladium Featuring: Congressman Eric Swalwell, Brittany Watts Where: Hollywood, California, United States When: 10 Jun 2022 Credit: Faye’s Vision/Cover Images
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- Songwriters of North America SONA celebrates 10th Anniversary with Warrior Awards at the Skirball Cultural Centre Featuring: Representative Eric Swalwell Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 12 Oct 2025 Credit: Faye’s Vision/Cover Images
Bye boy! Don’t let the door hit you…
I don’t care about Swalwell, my concern and support goes to his victims.
⏫️ EXACTLY 💯
Always glad to see when the trash takes itself out. We don’t need another sex pest in a position of power.
The trash took itself out only because he was facing serious criminal charges in addition to the ethics investigation. By now, he’s probably very lawyered up and was advised to focus on answering criminal charges.
What *is* it with these people?? Assuming you’re in an open marriage, (big assumption, but granted) and you have permission to play away — when you’re in D.C. and your spouse is in your home state, say — why not just couple up with people who are *not* working in your office, whom you will see *every* day???? Isn’t that just *awkward*??? What is it with these dudes and their pissing on their own patch? Doesn’t it just make life *more* difficult? If you just want some light relief, don’t most major cities have, you know, professionals? ….
I have ALWAYS wondered this. Life in DC politics is clearly equivalent to spring break in Cancun. There is so much consensual, discreet sex for the asking. Not to mention for purchase. It speaks volumes about men who choose abuse of power or violence over what is apparently the world’s largest swingers party.
This isn’t about sexual relief in a long distance relationship, this is about an abuse of power that takes a sexually violent form.
^ this!
The power imbalance, manipulation, targeting victims who have little authority, autonomy in the org, industry you are powerful in … that’s all part of what these predatory assholes thrive on.
He doesn’t want equal partners, he wants targets he can use, abuse, discard like the
non-human objects he views them as.
And, hey, if today’s victims flames out, his role, DC conveyor belt of new staffers provided him an endless conveyor belt of new targets.
Flames and shame for him and all his corrupt enablers.
Yes also about ego and hubris. Tale as old as time.
I feel like Cosby was the ultimate example of this. Women gave enthusiastic consent to sex with him (probably all the time and whenever he wanted), but he still drugged and raped them, because control and pain were the goal, not sex.
As he should.
People literally bragging that they knew this for years are not doing themselves any favors. I doubt that anyone knew the full extent of this creep’s depravity. But people heard rumors and gossip since he kept up such an active social life around DC, including with sex workers (presumably consensual). However, without any of his victims stepping forward, there wasn’t anything anyone could do about it. And, if this was all so well known, why did the victims all think they were the only ones? When they learned they had strength in numbers, the dam broke.
Yes the bragging is really ticking me off. Did you actually know, or are you trying to pretend you had insider info? and if you actually knew, why didnt you do something about it? (not referring to the victims here.)
I’m glad he’s resigning, I think its the right course of action. And a year or two ago I would have been frustrated that Dems push for the right thing in these situations and Rs dont – but now I’m just turning the ‘whataboutism’ towards them – “we force out our bad eggs, what are YOU doing about yours????”
It seems insane for people to say that they were aware he was sexually abusing women and that they did nothing.
They seem to be conflating his cheating with his abuse. Which diminishes his very real very predatory very violent sexual abuse.
He may have been widely known as a scum bag or a cheater. That’s shitty and its own thing.
Being a serial sexual abuser is its own category of terrible human and needs to be treated as such.
I know I mentioned this here before, but it strikes me as indicative of the mentality of neutral observers who must have seen something, heard something, yet did nothing, for ages: I graduated from a boarding school that is now notorious for having been the centre of a sex abuse scandal that spanned decades. It made the New York Times, the Boston Globe, even the BBC. It was revealed by the same investigative reporting team that covered the Catholic Church, Spotlight, of the eponymous film. And I have to say — there are so many layers to it. One of the head teacher who was forced to resign when the story broke had been conducting an extramarital affair (on both sides) with a teacher and she was effectively his employee. And other teachers gossiped about it, openly. It was like a very posh commune. There were student / teacher couples — rarely — who were acknowledged, and some of the teachers were not much older than the older students. I think when the lines have been blurred, that badly, the cases of actual abuse — as opposed to bad judgement or simply sloppy standards — tend to be seen as outliers, but that’s all. They’re just nodes on the spectrum. So from this I infer that D.C. and Congress are a livid hotbed of illicit couplings. Hence the moral “majority” panic about all manner of alternative lifestyles. Can’t let the cat out of the bag, I guess.
All of these scandals are enable by people’s compliance from the bottom all the way to the top. Predators like Swalwell or the teacher you describe rely on the cloak of secrecy that these people provide. It’s crazy what people will overlook to keep their cushy jobs.
Did we go to the same school?! Because same. It was happening when I was there. I knew about a couple of liaisons between young female teachers with Senior boys, and at least one young male teacher who was a “flirt,” but had no idea the extent of it until years later. One teacher with whom I was on an overseas semester engaged in a relationship with a young student several years after I had left for college. I had no idea he was such a creep.
You know what’s funny? I have genuine inhibition about naming the school, call it CRH!!!! I saw a dad in the sand pit at the Battersea zoo about 10 years ago wearing an old weathered Exeter t-shirt — the kind you know was issued as sports kit, and not purchased at a gift shop — and it was all I could do not to rush up to him and ask, “were you class of ‘94???” Cause that’s so uncool. Especially two Americans in London. Like, waaaaaay beyond lame. But I wanted to!
unfortunately its not an uncommon story and its not limited to boarding schools or even private schools. when my husband was in college the PE teacher/cross country coach “left” after it was discovered he was sleeping with the star runner. and I have stories from my own catholic school, local public schools etc.
I like to think there is more accountability and awareness now but I think that’s just me being optimistic.
So, rape apologists from yesterday, what say you? People always immediately resign from Congress over unfounded allegations to avoid a full ethics investigation, don’t they? It sure feels like criminal charges are coming…
Yes if he does not have a criminal defense attorney he needs to get one ASAP.
California here. I thought he was a good guy. Sad to hear he’s not, but agree we need to stand with the victims.
Including E Jean Carroll. So Trump, an adjudicated rapist, should step down too!!!
I’m disappointed too bc I thought he was an outspoken voice in congress against the Trump administration. But, there are other voices and like you said, we need to stand with the victims.
I’m disappointed. And angry. I’m so tired of abusive predatory people in positions of power.
I also had at least thought he was a good politician and like Becks1 says an outspoken voice. One thing that has always bothered me (and made me immediately believe the victims rather than Roger Stone setup) was that Chinese spy honeypot from years ago. He ended it fairly quickly as I recall due to being told she was suspect when the republican targets didn’t, but it bothered me he was targeted. He didn’t seem to be someone to exchange secrets but he must have been sleazy enough to think they could compromise him somehow. Sleazy doesn’t begin to describe what seems to have happened here.
I am disappointed he was not called out before this, but I am happy that democrats won’t stand for this at least publicly.
I’ve seen a few of his moments on social media where he’s made great points in the course of congressional business (during hearings and what not) and liked that. His interviews always gave me the ick somehow from how he dresses, so he’s never been on my List of Great Politicians (I’m in Texas hoping and working towards our own Orban moment).
What bothers me about the democrats not allowing this publicly is that they did apparently allow it privately. And apparently thought that him being a sleazy cheater would never come out at the worst possible moment for wherever he was running for. It was tolerated or hand waved away until it went public from “respected” news sources.
I get that standing against someone in power isn’t great for regular people, but no one in the Dem machinery who was in a place to know did anything. I guess people see it as not their business because they thought it was a private marriage issue? People had to have noticed he was hitting on staff though.
Good riddance.
Now do Trump, GOP.
I am always suspicious of political figures who are always online, always on TV, always giving interviews and doing podcasts, and just generally always in your face. Communication is an important part of a politician’s job but if communicating is all they do, you can be sure they’re neglecting the job itself. And there’s a very good chance that they’re a malignant narcissist.
This is disappointing. What is wrong with people? Doesn’t he have children too? One thing I have never understood is how people have the time and energy to engage in extra-marital affairs or mischief when they have jobs and families. I was always exhausted when my kids were young. Sex with anyone other than my husband was the last thing on my mind.
Obviously this is so, so much worse than an affair. But I just don’t get it. I don’t know what motivates people to behave so badly or how they think they are just going to get away with it. Maybe Swalwell could if he were a Republican, but he belongs to a party that takes this stuff seriously.
This means there are a lot more than just 4 victims. I hope his wife divorces him.