Swalwell Resigns From Congress as Sexual Assault Allegations Multiply

Eric Swalwell’s political career effectively ended this week after a cascade of sexual assault and rape allegations from five women destroyed his front-runner status in California’s gubernatorial race and forced his resignation from the House of Representatives. The swift collapse, which unfolded over roughly 48 hours, has left Democratic colleagues expressing betrayal, prompted an invitation from FBI Director Kash Patel for Swalwell to speak with investigators, and even spawned a cryptocurrency prediction market on whether he will be arrested by the end of May.

The allegations surfaced first in The San Francisco Chronicle, which reported claims by an unnamed former aide that Swalwell sexually assaulted her on two occasions. CNN soon followed with accounts from three additional women describing separate instances of misconduct. On Tuesday, Lonna Drewes, a former model and fashion software executive, held a news conference in which she accused Swalwell of raping and choking her in a West Hollywood hotel in 2018. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed it has opened an investigation and will forward its findings to prosecutors. TIME has not independently verified the claims, and Swalwell has denied all of them.

In a statement on X, the California Democrat said he was “deeply sorry to my family, staff and constituents for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past” while insisting he would “fight the serious, false allegation made against me.” His attorney, Sara Azari, described the accusations as a “calculated and transparent political hit job” timed to damage his reputation and questioned why the claims had not emerged during Swalwell’s 2020 presidential bid or earlier in his congressional tenure.

The political fallout has been particularly painful for those closest to him. Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, whom Swalwell has called his best friend on Capitol Hill, spoke emotionally outside his Washington office, admitting he had heard rumors that Swalwell could be “flirty” with women but never confronted him. “I fell for it,” Gallego said, adding that Swalwell “became very good at being a predator” and “extremely proficient at lying to us, lying to his family, lying to his community.” Gallego said he began to discount the rumors after spending time with Swalwell’s wife and children, but now expressed regret for not pressing his friend earlier. “It hurts the fact that he hurt a lot of people,” he said, appearing at times to fight back tears. “And it pisses me off that now we all have to deal with all of his BS.”

The episode raises uncomfortable questions about how allegations of this nature travel through political networks. Multiple women described patterns of behavior that were apparently known enough to generate rumors yet not serious enough, in the eyes of some colleagues, to warrant action until the moment they became politically catastrophic. California Democrats had been growing alarmed at the prospect of a “jungle primary” in which the top two finishers advance regardless of party. With Swalwell as the strongest moderate Democrat in a fragmented field, there was genuine fear that two Republicans could advance to the general election. The sudden emergence of detailed reporting from both a liberal newspaper and a major cable network has fueled conservative claims that the timing was not coincidental.

Yet the seriousness of the accusations, particularly Drewes’ public account and the subsequent law enforcement response, cannot be dismissed as mere political theater. Victims of sexual misconduct in politics have long faced steep barriers to coming forward, including threats of legal action. Swalwell’s team has sent cease-and-desist letters to some accusers, a common tactic that often chills public testimony.

The involvement of federal authorities adds another layer. Hours after Swalwell announced his resignation, Patel, a Trump ally now serving as FBI director, posted on X inviting the former congressman to speak with the bureau. “@EricSwalwell has maintained that none of the allegations against him are true, and now that he’s resigned, we would welcome him to sit down with the FBI and share any information he has,” Patel wrote. He added that the door remains open to anyone with relevant information. Simultaneously, the prediction platform Polymarket began offering bets on whether Swalwell would face arrest by the end of May, turning a personal and legal crisis into a speculative financial instrument.

Swalwell’s departure creates a vacuum in California Democratic politics at a moment when the party can ill afford missteps. For years he positioned himself as a vocal critic of the Trump administration and a champion of institutional norms. The contrast between that public persona and the portrait now painted by multiple accusers has left even sympathetic observers unsettled. Gallego’s raw admission that he trusted a man who may have systematically deceived those around him captures a broader discomfort: how often personal behavior that falls short of criminality is tolerated in politics until the stakes become existential.

Whether these allegations will result in legal consequences remains uncertain. Investigations take time, and high-profile cases involving politicians often face intense scrutiny over credibility and motive. What is already clear is that Swalwell’s once-promising trajectory, which included a presidential bid and prominent role on the House Intelligence Committee, has ended in disgrace. The women who have come forward describe not only individual harm but a pattern that colleagues now acknowledge they should have examined more closely. In the aftermath, California Democrats must reckon with both the immediate electoral damage and the deeper institutional failures that allowed the situation to persist for so long.