Manhattan DA Reviews Sexual Assault Claims Against Rep. Swalwell

Manhattan prosecutors have opened an investigation into serious sexual misconduct allegations against Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell, including a claim that he raped a former staffer in a New York City hotel room last year. The move comes as Swalwell's once-promising bid for California governor craters under the weight of accusations from four women and fresh complaints that he paid an undocumented nanny with campaign money.

The Manhattan District Attorney's office confirmed Saturday it is looking into the claims, which first surfaced publicly in the San Francisco Chronicle on Friday. Prosecutors urged any other potential victims to contact their Special Victims Division, promising a "trauma-informed, survivor-centered" approach. One accuser told the Chronicle and CNN that Swalwell raped her in 2024 after she had already left his office. She said both that encounter and an earlier one in 2019 happened while she was too intoxicated to consent. The woman also described a pattern of inappropriate sexual comments, solicitations for sex, and explicit messages that began shortly after she was hired to work in his Castro Valley district office.

Three other women have accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct ranging from harassment to assault, according to CNN. The timing is hard to ignore. The allegations dropped just weeks before California's June primary in a wide-open governor's race where Swalwell had positioned himself as a top contender to reach the runoff. California uses a nonpartisan system that advances the top two vote-getters regardless of party. Swalwell, a married father of three first elected in 2012, had leaned heavily on his image as a former prosecutor and reliable party soldier.

Swalwell called the claims "absolutely false" and said he will fight them with facts, including possible legal action against his accusers. "For nearly 20 years, I have served the public as a prosecutor and a congressman, and have always protected women," he said. His office did not respond to requests for comment.

The scandal has sent shockwaves through the California Democratic establishment. Multiple senior Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, have privately and publicly urged Swalwell to quit the governor's race immediately. The pressure reflects a simple political reality: the party cannot afford another high-profile ethics disaster in a state it dominates. Yet the swift calls for him to step aside stand in contrast to the years of institutional protection Swalwell enjoyed after his documented ties to a suspected Chinese spy were exposed.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican, announced she will file a motion next week to expel Swalwell from Congress altogether. Appearing on Fox News, Luna said it would be unacceptable for Swalwell to simply drop his gubernatorial bid and slink back to Washington as if nothing happened. "If this is serious enough to end his campaign for governor, it's serious enough to end his time in Congress," she said.

Adding to Swalwell's problems are two formal complaints alleging he violated immigration and campaign finance laws to keep a live-in nanny in the country. A complaint filed with the Department of Labor claims Swalwell and his wife Brittany lied to employers to maintain the babysitter's services. A separate filing with the Department of Homeland Security, submitted by filmmaker and activist Joel Gilbert, accuses the congressman of paying the nanny, identified as Amanda Barbosa, with campaign funds for roughly two years while she lacked valid work authorization. Photos on social media show Barbosa continuing to interact closely with the Swalwell family throughout 2023 and 2024.

The nanny allegations echo a familiar pattern for Swalwell. In 2020, the public learned that a Chinese national named Christine Fang, widely believed to be an operative for Beijing, had helped raise money for his campaigns and placed an intern in his office. Swalwell claimed he cut ties once alerted by the FBI, but the episode raised persistent questions about his judgment and whether the intelligence community had properly briefed Congress about the threat. Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy has repeatedly pointed to the Fang connection as evidence that Swalwell should never have been allowed on the House Intelligence Committee in the first place.

Democrats now face the uncomfortable prospect of defending or distancing themselves from a member whose personal conduct allegations stretch from harassment to rape while questions swirl about his use of campaign money and past foreign entanglements. The Manhattan investigation adds a layer of legal gravity that cannot be waved away as mere partisan attacks. Specially trained prosecutors do not open these kinds of inquiries lightly.

Swalwell's defenders may argue the claims are politically timed, but the volume of accusers and the specific details about the New York hotel incident have clearly rattled even his own party. For a politician who built his brand on toughness and moral clarity as a former prosecutor, the emerging portrait is far less flattering. California voters now have fresh reason to question whether the man who wanted to lead their state has instead spent years exploiting the power of his office.

As the Manhattan probe moves forward and the nanny complaints wind through federal agencies, Swalwell's political future looks increasingly bleak. The same Democratic machine that protected him through the Chinese spy scandal now appears ready to cut him loose rather than risk further damage in a state where they should face no serious opposition. That calculation says more about the gravity of these allegations than any press release from Swalwell's office ever could.