BREAKING: Eric Swalwell Hit With Surprising Allegations From Ex-Staffer
A former aide to Rep. Eric Swalwell is accusing the California Democrat and gubernatorial hopeful of engaging in a sexual relationship with her while she worked in his office and alleges he sexually assaulted her on two occasions when she was too intoxicated to consent.
Swalwell flatly denied the accusations in a statement on Friday but did not directly address the specific claims outlined by the woman.
“These allegations are false and come on the eve of an election against the frontrunner for governor,” he wrote. “For nearly 20 years, I have served the public — as a prosecutor and a congressman and have always protected women. 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.”
According to interviews the former staffer gave to the San Francisco Chronicle, she said Swalwell began pursuing her just weeks after she was hired in 2019 at age 21 to work in his district office in Castro Valley.
The woman alleged that Swalwell contacted her on Snapchat, sent explicit photos of himself, and asked her to send nude photos in return.
She further claimed the married congressman, who is 17 years older than her, first tried to kiss her after she drove him home from a donor event before escalating the encounters weeks later when, she said, he exposed himself in her car and asked for oral sex while they were parked before another event.
Washington, DC July 28, 2022: Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) speaks at a news conference at the U.S Capitol
The woman said the relationship later turned more troubling.
She alleged that in September 2019, Swalwell invited her for drinks, and she became so intoxicated that she blacked out and could not remember the rest of the evening. She said she later woke up naked in his hotel bed and believed they had engaged in intercourse.
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According to the woman, the two drifted apart after that incident.
She also alleged a second assault occurred nearly five years later in April 2024 after the two met for drinks following a charity gala honoring Swalwell.
By then no longer employed by the congressman, the woman said she again became heavily intoxicated and remembers only fragments of the evening, including allegedly pushing Swalwell away and telling him, “No,” while he forced himself on her.
Three days later, the woman texted a friend saying she had been “sexually assaulted” by Swalwell.
She wrote in messages reviewed by the Chronicle that she had “blacked out” but “woke up once during it and even told him to stop at one point.”
“This happened one other time when I was working with him, but I convinced myself I was an equal party in it even though same pattern: I blacked out and he had sex with me,” she wrote, referring to the alleged 2019 encounter.
The Chronicle reported that both the woman’s friend and her then-boyfriend said she told them about the alleged 2024 assault shortly afterward, with the boyfriend claiming he urged her to contact police.
The woman said she chose not to report the matter because she feared authorities would not believe her.
Medical records reviewed by the outlet reportedly show she sought pregnancy and STD testing roughly one week after the alleged 2024 incident.
Late Thursday, Swalwell’s attorney sent the woman a cease-and-desist letter accusing her of making “false statements accusing Mr. Swalwell of sexual assault and nonconsensual sexual encounter” and threatening legal action unless she retracts the claims.
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