A former aide to Rep. Eric Swalwell, a top Democratic candidate for governor of California, told the San Francisco Chronicle that she had sexual encounters with him when he was her boss and alleged that he twice sexually assaulted her when she was too intoxicated to consent.
The woman worked for Swalwell from 2019 until 2021, NBC News confirmed. The woman’s lawyer declined to comment and NBC News has not verified her allegations.
Later Friday, CNN reported on sexual misconduct allegations against Swalwell from four women, including one whose story matches the details in the Chronicle account. Another woman told CNN that Swalwell kissed her without her consent in public and that she drank heavily with him before ending up in his hotel room, with no idea how she got there. A third, Ally Sammarco, a Democratic influencer, said Swalwell sent her unsolicited photos of his penis, while a fourth said he sent her unsolicited videos of his penis.
NBC News has not independently corroborated their stories. CNN said it corroborated the women’s accounts through interviews with friends and family members, as well as reviewing messages Swalwell exchanged with the women.
Swalwell did not immediately respond to requests for comment via his campaign, congressional office or his attorney. But in a video posted to social media Friday night, Swalwell said "these allegations of sexual assault are flat false."
"They did not happen, they have never happened. And I will fight them with everything I have," he said.
"I do not suggest to you in any way that I am perfect or that I'm a saint. I have certainly made mistakes in judgment in my past," he said. "But those mistakes are between me and my wife. And to her I apologize deeply for putting her in this position."
Swalwell said he will spend time with his family and friends, adding that he "looks forward to updating you very soon."
He did not comment on his plans for the campaign.
The video came after Swalwell told the Chronicle and CNN in identical statements that the women’s allegations are not true.
“These allegations are false and come on the eve of an election against the frontrunner for governor,” he wrote, later adding: “I will defend myself with the facts and where necessary bring legal action. My focus in the coming days is to be with my wife and children and defend our decades of service against these lies.”
His lawyer also “sent CNN a letter denying that Swalwell has ever had nonconsensual sex with any woman or ever had sexual relations with any member of his staff,” the network reported.
The former staffer told the Chronicle that in September 2019, while she was employed by him, Swalwell invited her out for drinks, and she became so intoxicated that she doesn’t remember what happened. She said she woke up naked in his hotel bed and could “feel the effect of vaginal intercourse.”
In April 2024, after she stopped working for the congressman, she said she met Swalwell for drinks after a charity gala at which he was honored. She again became so inebriated while drinking with him that she only remembers “snippets” of the evening, she told the paper. One of the flashes she recalled was Swalwell having sex with her in his hotel room and her telling him no.
The Chronicle says it reviewed text messages she sent to a friend about that encounter three days later, which included that she told Swalwell to stop. The paper also interviewed her boyfriend at the time, who confirmed she told him about the alleged assault, and its reporters viewed medical records that showed she sought pregnancy and STD tests afterward.
In the days before the story was published on Friday, rumors bounced around both left-wing and right-wing social media about potential allegations against the congressman related to sexual misconduct. Swalwell was asked about the rumors by a reporter for KTXL in Sacramento, who said she asked whether he had ever had inappropriate relations with a staffer or intern. “It’s false,” he replied.
Swalwell’s campaign attempted to get in front of any story, issuing a rare but vehement pre-emptive denial saying that the congressman had not engaged in any inappropriate behavior.
“This false, outrageous rumor is being spread 27 days before an election begins by flailing opponents who have sadly teamed up with MAGA conspiracy theorists because they know Eric Swalwell is the frontrunner in this race,” Micah Beasley, a campaign spokesman, said in a statement Wednesday.
The statement did not mention or address any specific allegations but said in response to some online rumors that Swalwell had not asked anyone in his office to sign a nondisclosure agreement. The Chronicle’s report did not include any allegations related to NDAs.
“In 13 years, no one in Eric Swalwell’s Congressional office has ever been asked to sign an NDA. Ever,” Beasley said in his Wednesday statement. “In 13 years, not a single ethics complaint by any staff in his office or any other office has ever been lodged. Ever.”
After the Chronicle story published on Friday, several Democrats withdrew their support for Swalwell’s campaign. Perhaps most notably, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, a fellow Bay Area Democrat who has been a close ally of Swalwell’s, suggested that he drop out of the race.
“This extremely sensitive matter must be appropriately investigated with full transparency and accountability,” she said in a statement, adding: “As I discussed with Congressman Swalwell, it is clear that is best done outside of a gubernatorial campaign.”
Reps. Jimmy Gomez and Adam Gray, both California Democrats, said they were stepping down as co-chairs of Swalwell’s campaign and called on him to drop his bid.
“Today’s reports about Eric Swalwell’s conduct while in office are deeply disturbing. Harassment, abuse, and violence of any sort are unacceptable,” Gray said on X.
Gomez called the allegations “shocking” and “the ugliest and most serious accusations imaginable,” adding that Swalwell “should leave the race now so there can be full accountability without doubt, distraction, or delay.”
The top three House Democrats — Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California — issued a joint statement Friday night calling for Swalwell to terminate his campaign.
“Following the incredibly disturbing sexual assault accusations against Congressman Eric Swalwell, we call for a swift investigation into these incidents and for the Congressman to immediately end his campaign to be California’s next Governor,” the Democratic leaders said.
Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego, a close friend of Swalwell’s, said he was withdrawing his endorsement, adding he regretted “having come to his defense on social media prior to knowing all the information. I am equally as shocked and upset about what has transpired.”
“What is described is indefensible,” said Gallego. “Women who come forward with accounts like this deserve to be heard with respect, not questioned or dismissed.”
The California Teachers Association also suspended its endorsement of Swalwell, while the California Federation of Labor Unions — which had endorsed Swalwell and three other Democratic candidates in the governor’s race — said it was “acting urgently” to “determine next steps.”
On Friday, all of Swalwell’s campaign ads for his gubernatorial bid on Facebook and Instagram were listed as “inactive,” including ads that were running earlier in the day, according to a review of Meta’s ad archive.
The California primary for governor will take place on June 2, with early voting starting on May 4.
Swalwell, 45, has served in Congress since 2013 and launched a failed, long-shot bid for the White House in 2020.
He’s been a vocal critic of President Donald Trump in both of his terms. After the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Pelosi named Swalwell, an attorney, one of Democrats’ nine impeachment prosecutors.
Swalwell’s sharp criticism of the president made him a target of Trump allies and the right. At the start of 2023, then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., blocked Swalwell from serving on the House Intelligence Committee, citing his ties to a 2014 campaign volunteer who later was suspected to be a Chinese spy, Christina Fang. That year, the House Ethics Committee took no action against Swalwell after a two-year investigation into the matter.
Swalwell cut ties with Fang in 2015 after the FBI gave him what’s known as a “defensive” briefing that she was working for Beijing and targeting several local rising politicians in the San Francisco Bay Area. Swalwell has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the Fang affair and said he assisted the FBI in its investigation.
Last month, Swalwell asked the FBI not to release files related to his past association with the suspected Chinese intelligence operative.
When the House is back in session next week, Swalwell could face a censure vote over the sexual misconduct allegations.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., said in a post on X Friday night that she will introduce a privileged resolution, which requires scheduling a floor vote within two legislative days, “to censure you for sexually harassing the women who work in your office.”
