A Democratic congressman’s campaign for California governor faces crisis after a former aide alleged he sexually assaulted her on two occasions when she was too intoxicated to consent, prompting a senior campaign official to resign and demand the candidate withdraw from the race.
The San Francisco Chronicle published Friday allegations from a woman who worked for Rep. Eric Swalwell between 2019 and 2021, detailing encounters she claims occurred whilst she was his employee and after her departure from his congressional office.
Rep. Jimmy Gomez, who served as Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign chair, stepped down immediately following the story’s publication, stating: “Today I learned shocking information about Eric Swalwell containing the ugliest and most serious accusations imaginable,” whilst calling on the congressman to “leave the race now.”
Swalwell issued emphatic denials through his campaign, characterising the allegations as “false” and arriving “on the eve of an election against the frontrunner for governor,” though he did not immediately respond to requests for comment via his congressional office or attorney.
The former staffer told the Chronicle that September 2019 witnessed Swalwell inviting her for drinks whilst she was employed by him, with her becoming so intoxicated she cannot remember events before waking naked in his hotel bed able to “feel the effect of vaginal intercourse.”
A second alleged assault occurred April 2024 following a charity gala honouring the congressman, with the woman claiming she again became severely inebriated whilst drinking with Swalwell and remembers only “snippets” including him having sex with her in his hotel room whilst she told him no.
The Chronicle reviewed text messages she sent a friend three days after the second encounter mentioning she told Swalwell to stop, whilst reporters interviewed her then-boyfriend who confirmed she disclosed the alleged assault and viewed medical records showing she sought pregnancy and STD tests afterwards.
Days before publication, social media rumours circulated regarding potential sexual misconduct allegations against Swalwell, prompting a Sacramento reporter asking whether he had inappropriate relations with staff or interns—a question he dismissed as “false.”
His campaign issued an unusual preemptive denial Wednesday stating Swalwell had not engaged in inappropriate behaviour, characterising rumours as “being spread 27 days before an election begins by flailing opponents who have sadly teamed up with MAGA conspiracy theorists.”
Campaign spokesman Micah Beasley’s statement emphasised that in 13 years no congressional office staff had been asked signing non-disclosure agreements nor lodged ethics complaints, though the Chronicle report contained no NDA-related allegations.
Britannia Daily confirmed the woman’s 2019-2021 employment with Swalwell’s office.
