House Ethics Committee Launches Investigation into Rep. Swalwell Over Sexual Misconduct Claims

In a significant development on Capitol Hill, the House Ethics Committee announced Monday it has launched an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against Representative Eric Swalwell of California, prompting the Democratic congressman to announce his resignation from office just hours later.

The committee stated it would examine whether Swalwell “violated the Code of Official Conduct or any law, rule, regulation, or other applicable standard of conduct in the performance of his duties or the discharge of his responsibilities, with respect to allegations that he may have engaged in sexual misconduct, including towards an employee working under his supervision.”

Swalwell, who has represented California’s Bay Area in Congress since 2013, announced his decision to step down shortly after the ethics probe was made public. “Expelling anyone in Congress without due process, within days of an allegation being made, is wrong,” Swalwell wrote on social media platform X. “But it’s also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties. Therefore, I plan to resign my seat in Congress.”

The allegations against the 45-year-old congressman first surfaced in reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN. A former staffer in Swalwell’s office alleged multiple sexual encounters with the congressman while she was under his employment, including two alleged sexual assaults in which she claims she was too intoxicated to consent. Several additional women also came forward with accusations of sexual misconduct against the congressman in interviews with CNN.

In a video statement released Friday, Swalwell vehemently denied the allegations, calling them “flat false” and insisting, “They did not happen; they have never happened.” His office did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding the ethics investigation.

The scandal has drawn attention from law enforcement as well. The Manhattan district attorney’s office confirmed Saturday that it had opened an investigation into one of the sexual assault allegations against the congressman.

The political fallout has been swift and bipartisan. Before Swalwell’s resignation announcement, Representative Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, had indicated she would introduce a motion to expel him from Congress, which would have required a two-thirds majority vote to succeed. Only six members have ever been expelled from the House in U.S. history, with former Representative George Santos of New York being the most recent in December 2023.

Even Swalwell’s close political allies had begun to distance themselves. Senator Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat who chaired Swalwell’s 2020 presidential campaign, publicly stated Monday that he supported the ethics investigation and believed Swalwell was “no longer fit to be a Member of Congress.” Gallego emphasized he had “no knowledge of the allegations of assault, harassment, and predatory behavior” and that Swalwell was “not the person I thought I knew.”

The resignation marks a dramatic fall for Swalwell, who had been a rising star in Democratic politics. Just one day before resigning from Congress, Swalwell had announced he was ending his campaign for governor of California. In that announcement, he acknowledged making “mistakes in judgment” in the past but maintained he would “fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s.”

According to attorneys representing one of Swalwell’s accusers, a woman with “serious sexual misconduct allegations” against the congressman will hold a news conference Tuesday in California to detail “the next legal steps” in her case against him.

The controversy has sparked broader discussions about accountability in Congress. Some lawmakers have pointed to other members facing ethical questions, including Representatives Tony Gonzales of Texas and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida, as potential candidates for similar expulsion proceedings.