Manhattan DA’s Office Investigating Swalwell Over Sexual Assault Claims
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is investigating Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) after multiple women alleged he sexually assaulted them, according to a report.
In a statement to CNN, the Manhattan DA’s Office called for “survivors and anyone with knowledge of these allegations” to come forward and contact the office’s Special Victims Division.
“We urge survivors and anyone with knowledge of these allegations to contact our Special Victims Division at 212-335-9373,” the office said. “Our specially trained prosecutors, investigators and counselors are well-equipped to help you in a trauma-informed, survivor-centered manner.”
The statement from the Manhattan DA’s office comes after a former staffer for Swalwell told the San Francisco Chronicle that the California representative, who is running to be the next governor of California, allegedly sexually assaulted her in two separate instances:
She said Swalwell, who is married and 17 years her senior at age 45, tried to kiss her in her car when she drove him home from a donor meeting one night. Driving him to another event weeks later, she said Swalwell pulled out his penis in the car and asked her to perform oral sex on him. She said she did so in a parking lot.
In September 2019, the woman said, Swalwell invited her out for drinks and she became so severely intoxicated that she does not remember the rest of the night. She said she woke up naked in Swalwell’s hotel bed and could feel the effect of vaginal intercourse. She said Swalwell distanced himself from her afterward and the relationship faded.
Five years later, the woman said, she attended an April 2024 charity gala where Swalwell was honored. The woman, who no longer worked for Swalwell, said they met for drinks afterward, during which she became so inebriated that she remembers only snippets of the night, including pushing Swalwell away and telling him, “No,” while he allegedly forced himself on her.
The woman also told CNN that in the second instance in April 2024, she was “pushing” Swalwell off of her and “saying no,” but he “didn’t stop.” The woman also told the outlet that in the first instance in 2019, “she woke up naked with him in a hotel room after a night of heavy drinking.”
“Three other women” also told the outlet about “alleged various kinds of sexual misconduct” by Swalwell.
In a post on X, Swalwell shared a video in which he called the allegations of sexual assault “flat false.”
“They are absolutely false,” Swalwell said. “They did not happen. They have never happened, and I will fight them with everything that I have.”
In response to the allegations of sexual assault brought against Swalwell, several Democrats, such as Sens. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Reps. Ted Lieu (D-CA) and Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), said they were withdrawing their endorsements of Swalwell’s campaign for governor, and called on him to end his campaign.