Eric Swalwell, a rising star in the Democratic Party, is facing shocking allegations from numerous women - including rape and sexual assault. The allegations are detailed, similar and the victims have evidence.
CNN is reporting that four women (so far) have come forward with allegations against Swalwell. The evidence is damning. The stories from the victims are harrowing to read. The victims do not appear to hold a grudge or have an agenda - in fact the one who is alleging he raped her was a former staffer. And their stories are very similar.
The first victim, a former staffer, says the he "raped her when she was heavily intoxicated and left her bruised and bleeding." She told CNN that in 2019, when she was a young staffer working in his Congressional office, he had "nonconsensual sexual contact with her while she was drunk." She reports waking up naked in a hotel room with him and that she had no memory of what happened, but displayed physical signs that they had sex. A second reported incident happen in 2024, years after she stopped working with him 2024. During this incident, she reports that he pushed himself on her. She reports that she said said "no" but he did not stop.
Three other women told CNN that Swalwell committed sexual misconduct against them as well, including sending them unsolicited explicit messages or nude photos. One of the women initially communicated with Swalwell over an interest in politics and somehow reports ending up in a hotel room with him after a night of drinking. Similar to the first victim, she reports not remembering what occurred fully.
A different woman, social media creator Ally Sammarco, reports that Swalwell sent her "unsolicited nude messages" after they connected on twitter about politics.
Swalwell has denied the allegations, putting out a statement that says:
“These allegations are false and come on the eve of an election against the front-runner for governor. 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.”
Swalwell's attorney sent cease-and-desist letters to two of the women CNN spoke with. The letters call the accusations false and deny that Swalwell has ever had nonconsensual sex with any woman or ever had sexual relations with any member of his staff.
CNN did their due diligence before dropping this story, corroborating numerous key elements of the accusations. Family members and friends were interviewed, text messages were read and medical records were shared. The stories line up with the evidence. To read details of the allegations, please read the CNN article. They are pretty graphic.
Multiple members of his staff quit immediately after being contacted about this story and pretty much everyone is calling for him to drop out of the race.
Awful.
