Inside the sudden downfall of Eric Swalwell

By Sarah Ferris, CNN

(CNN) — As one California Democrat prepared to formally endorse Rep. Eric Swalwell for governor this spring, the lawmaker hesitated. They had heard rumors the married father of three slept around in Washington and worried about putting their name behind him in a crucial contest.

This member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak freely, was clear they had not heard about the now-public allegations of criminal sexual assault or relationships with subordinates in Congress, which is a violation of House ethics rules.

But when this member had asked about the rumored infidelity — which Democrats on Capitol Hill widely described to CNN as an “open secret” — they were assured by some of Swalwell’s close friends that all the rumors were “just activities before he was married” and encouraged to formally back him in the race. This person was not alone: Other members also directly questioned Swalwell and his team about what would happen if his history of womanizing in Washington came out publicly, only to be brushed off by his team, another person confirmed.

Weeks later, that California member, along with nearly two dozen others, abruptly withdrew their endorsements as Swalwell faced a torrent of sexual assault and misconduct allegations published by CNN and others.

Swalwell’s downfall was swift. In a remarkable 100 hours, he went from the front-runner in a race to lead the nation’s most populous state to abandoning his House seat in disgrace. His resignation, effective Tuesday, capped a 13-year congressional career, in which he held coveted party positions and was seen by some as part of a new generation of Democratic leadership.

CNN has reached out to Swalwell’s attorney for this story, but did not receive a response. The congressman has repeatedly vowed to fight what he called “the serious, false allegation made against” him.

His exit from both the governor’s race and Congress was the result of an intense, unusually quick pressure campaign from his fellow Democratic lawmakers — notably led by his one-time mentor, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. This bloc of powerful Democrats, the loudest of whom were women, decided to not only immediately sever ties with Swalwell, but to push him out of Congress for good.

And in an extraordinary — and politically advantageous — move, they worked to ensure that Swalwell would not be the only one punished for serious allegations of sexual misconduct inside the US Capitol. Once the party had officially abandoned Swalwell, they set out to make a bipartisan pact with GOP colleagues to ensure the same consequence would befall GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas, who has admitted to having a sexual relationship with a former staffer who later committed suicide.

The whisper network hits Washington

The end of Swalwell’s career came into view a few weeks earlier, as vague mentions of his alleged sexual misconduct surfaced online from well-known TikTokers before any survivors officially came forward.

Those online influencers, who were well-known in some corners of the Democratic Party, hinted at women who were claiming to have suffered from Swalwell’s alleged misconduct, including some who had worked for him. One woman, Cheyenne Hunt, is a lawyer and former Hill staffer who once ran her own campaign for a House seat. Hunt said she helped pursue accountability for Swalwell “because the first victim who approached me is a close friend,” as she posted on X on April 6, days before CNN’s first published account.

But, she said, when she learned of others whose experiences “fit the same pattern of manipulation and abuse of power, I knew I couldn’t stay silent.”

These posts by Hunt and others began popping up in the California delegation’s members-only group chat, according to one person familiar with the conversations. None of his colleagues, though, had yet spoken out publicly.

As recently as Tuesday, Swalwell was pressing forward with his bid for the governors’ mansion, holding a “community town hall” during Congress’ spring break from Washington.

Hours after his campaign sought to publicly push back against the swirling social media claims that a number of women would soon come forward with accusations of sexual misconduct, Swalwell took questions from the audience in Sacramento. But it was a civil stop on the campaign trail: No one asked about the allegations, and Swalwell stuck to his usual themes.

But he was soon forced to respond. Speaking to reporters afterward, he fiercely denied the allegations of having relationships with staffers and forcing his team to sign non-disclosure agreements — while suggesting the accusations were only surfacing because of the proximity to the primary.

“Look, we’re 27 days before an election starts,” Swalwell told reporters.

The full extent of those allegations materialized last Friday, as several women went public describing sexual abuse by the now-former congressman. In the following days, women with additional disturbing claims came forward, with one woman publicly alleging Swalwell drugged and then raped her in a hotel room around a political event.

A lawyer for Swalwell said he “categorically and unequivocally denies each and every allegation of sexual misconduct and assault that has been leveled against him.”

Inside the US Capitol, the accusations unleashed a sense of fury and disgust among some senior Democrats, including his long-time mentor, Pelosi, who felt blindsided by the accusations, according to multiple people familiar with the internal discussions.

Not all Democrats, however, were as shell-shocked. In interviews, dozens of lawmakers and senior aides said Swalwell’s womanizing reputation was widely known, though those relationships were believed to be consensual. Several reacted to Swalwell’s decision to enter the governor’s race with an eyeroll, rather than any real concern — just as they did his short-lived presidential bid in 2020.

But when they learned of the new predatory — and in some cases potentially criminal — allegations, top House Democrats decided almost immediately to sever ties.

Hours after the first report surfaced by the San Francisco Chronicle, and CNN soon after, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries privately conferred with his top two deputies, Reps. Katherine Clark and Pete Aguilar. None of them had any direct conversations with Swalwell after the reports dropped — adhering to the party’s strict no tolerance policy since the Hill’s #MeToo push a decade earlier, according to multiple people familiar with the conversations. Instead, they quickly agreed to put all three of their names on a blistering statement calling on him to drop out of the California governor’s race.

Then, as those damning news reports rippled through members’ inboxes on Friday, it was Pelosi who helped put a definitive end to Swalwell’s career in Washington and Sacramento.

‘One of Pelosi’s boys’

Swalwell had been fiercely loyal to the veteran Democrat and was known as “one of Pelosi’s boys” by members and aides during her speakership.

In Pelosi’s four decades in politics, one of her many repeated mantras is that “nothing ever resolves itself.” In this instance as House Democrats faced a growing political storm and a humiliating expulsion vote against one of their own members, Pelosi decided to resolve the Swalwell crisis herself.

The 86-year-old said she had phoned Swalwell and urged him to leave politics — a rare and stunning public statement from the immensely private former House speaker.

In the hours before, she had received phone calls and texts from many of her fellow California Democrats, who wanted to know whether she planned to take action, according to one person close to Pelosi. They knew that Pelosi had been Swalwell’s most important ally in the Capitol and at home. (Multiple Democrats said they were confident that Pelosi was being truthful when she said she had never heard the unsavory accusations against Swalwell.)

In her time leading the party, Pelosi appointed him to powerful panels, including the House Intelligence Committee. In one of her last acts as speaker, she made him one of the faces of President Donald Trump’s second impeachment after the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack.

“He owed pretty much everything he’s done here to Pelosi,” one senior Democratic aide said of Swalwell.

“She kind of adopted Swalwell” into her northern California family, another senior Democratic aide added. “She saw him as a rising star.”

She also defended him at a key moment in his career: Shortly after he arrived in Congress, US officials investigated Swalwell for his connection to a Chinese spy who was running a secretive operation to gain access to US politicians to gather intel on Washington.

Pelosi and Democratic leadership privately, but immediately, confronted Swalwell about his connection with the suspected Chinese spy and told him to cut all ties. He vowed that he did, was never charged with a crime and later was cleared by a separate House Ethics Committee investigation into the matter.

More recently, Democratic leaders appeared to stand by Swalwell as he was newly in the crosshairs of the Trump administration and allies who were seeking to damage his gubernatorial campaign by reviving the spy claims. The FBI, at the request of the White House, dedicated resources in recent weeks to redact files from the investigation and turned them over to the White House, according to people familiar with the matter.

But on the misconduct allegations, there was no discussion, no back-and-forth with the two colleagues from the same northern California alliance in the state’s famous “five family” factions.

Pelosi was asked Monday evening at a George Washington University event if she had recommended Swalwell step down, but she did not directly answer. Instead, she said resigning was “his decision” and “the right thing to do.”

Once it became clear that top Democrats, including Jeffries and Pelosi, were abandoning the congressman, several rank-and-file members began mobilizing a push to oust him from their ranks.

It wasn’t just about Swalwell. From their homes across the country, several female members phoned their House GOP colleagues to make sure that whatever punishment happened to Swalwell was going to be the same for Gonzales, the Texas Republican facing his own torrent of accusations.

These women from both parties — led by Reps. Teresa Leger Fernandez, a Democrat from New Mexico, and Anna Paulina Luna, a Florida Republican — effectively reached an accountability pact in the narrowly divided House. If the Democrat is punished, then the Republican, will too be punished.

Privately, even some party leaders were involved. Clark spoke with GOP leaders to push for an “expel for expel” resolution to both members’ misconduct, according to a person involved in the discussions. Then, as more accusations came out, it became a “resign for resign.”

A spokesperson for Speaker Mike Johnson’s office denied there was anything coordinated between the two parties at the leadership-level on this issue.

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CNN’s Eric Bradner, Dana Bash, Evan Perez and Hannah Rabinowitz contributed to this report.