The House Ethics Committee announced Monday that it was opening an investigation into the sexual misconduct allegations against Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., an inquiry that came to a halt hours later after he announced his resignation from Congress.
The committee's leaders said in a statement that they would review whether he "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 announced that he would resign from Congress later Monday.
"Expelling anyone in Congress without due process, within days of an allegation being made, is wrong," Swalwell wrote on 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."
Swalwell's planned resignation from Congress will also end the House Ethics Committee’s investigation of him, as the committee only has jurisdiction over current members, according to the Congressional Research Service.
FBI Director Kash Patel invited Swalwell to work with law enforcement following his resignation.
"Eric Swalwell 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 in a statement on X.
A former Swalwell staffer alleged in a San Francisco Chronicle article and in an interview with CNN that she had several sexual encounters with Swalwell while she worked in his office. She accused Swalwell of sexually assaulting her twice, saying she was too intoxicated to consent. NBC News has not verified her allegations. Several other women who spoke to CNN also accused Swalwell of engaging in sexual misconduct.
A woman who said she had “serious sexual misconduct allegations” against Swalwell will hold a news conference about her claims Tuesday in California, according to her lawyers, who are expected to detail "the next legal steps."
Swalwell’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the ethics probe Monday. In a video Friday, he called the allegations "flat false," saying, "They did not happen; they have never happened."
The Manhattan district attorney’s office said Saturday that it had opened an investigation into one of the sexual assault allegations.
Swalwell, 45, dropped his bid for governor in California on Sunday night. He said that while he had made "mistakes in judgment" in the past, he would "fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s.”
Several lawmakers, including some Democrats, had urged him to resign from Congress, as well, or face expulsion.
Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., one of Swalwell's top allies, who chaired his 2020 presidential campaign, said Monday that he supported a probe by the House Ethics Committee and that Swalwell should be expelled from Congress.
"I support the ethics committee's investigation and believe Eric Swalwell is no longer fit to be a Member of Congress," Gallego wrote on X.
"I want to be clear: I had no knowledge of the allegations of assault, harassment, and predatory behavior against Eric Swalwell," Gallego said, adding that he was "not the person I thought I knew."
Swalwell, who has been in the House since 2013, faced the possibility of being expelled. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said Saturday on X that she planned to bring a motion to the House floor to expel him. It would have needed a two-thirds vote in favor to pass.
The situation has spurred discussion in the House about expelling other members of Congress, as well, including Reps. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, who admitted having a romantic relationship with a staffer who later killed herself, and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., who was found guilty in a House ethics probe of allegations that she stole millions in federal relief funds and funneled some of the money to her congressional campaign. She also faces related federal charges.
Gonzales on Monday night said he would retire from Congress.
Only six members have been expelled from the House, with Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., being the most recent, in December 2023, and three of whom were removed because of disloyalty to the Union and fighting for the Confederacy during the Civil War.
