Eric Swalwell spent years on the House Intelligence Committee telling America Donald Trump was a Russian agent.
Last week five women accused him of rape and sexual assault – and he resigned from Congress inside 72 hours.
Now the woman that Trump tapped to be Washington’s top prosecutor just made a move that changes everything.
Pirro Opens Hotline as DOJ Launches Federal Investigation Into Swalwell
Five women have accused Eric Swalwell of rape or sexual assault.
He denied everything – then apologized to his wife for unspecified "mistakes in judgment" and resigned from Congress on April 14.
Resigning a congressional seat doesn't close a criminal investigation.
Jeanine Pirro – who served three consecutive terms as Westchester County District Attorney before Trump appointed her U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia – went on camera and made clear her office is treating this as an active criminal matter.
"Based upon an allegation that's already been made of possibly drugging, choking, and then raping a woman," Pirro told the Daily Wire, "you're talking about decades in prison."
She created a hotline for anyone in the District with information about Swalwell's conduct.
"If you hear about someone who was allegedly drugging, choking, raping victims, who has lived in this district for a significant period of time, I would expect there would be victims who might have information," Pirro said.
Swalwell has maintained a residence in Washington, D.C., since his election to Congress in 2012.
That's 14 years of potential exposure in Pirro's jurisdiction alone.
Eric Swalwell Sexual Assault Allegations Span Three Criminal Investigations
The investigations now span three cities.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Special Victims Bureau opened a case into Lonna Drewes' 2018 West Hollywood allegation the same afternoon she held her press conference in Beverly Hills.
Drewes told reporters Swalwell spiked her wine, got her into his hotel room while she was incapacitated, choked her until she lost consciousness, and raped her.
"He raped me and he choked me," Drewes said. "And while he was choking me, I lost consciousness. I thought I died."
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office opened a criminal investigation into the 2024 hotel room rape allegation the same weekend the San Francisco Chronicle broke the story.
New York law carries no statute of limitations on rape.
Prosecutors aren't racing a clock – they can build the case they want to build.
Pirro said that Capitol Hill's tolerance for predators in its ranks hasn't improved in the decades she's been prosecuting these cases.
"The old boy network is alive and well, and it is infuriating," she told the Daily Wire.
"There is silence, and there is secrecy, and unfortunately, there's a failure by Congress to hold its own members accountable," she added.
The Man Democrats Trusted With America's Secrets
Swalwell sat on the House Intelligence Committee.
He had access to America's most classified national security programs while colleagues reportedly knew him for predatory behavior toward young women.
Drewes said the reason she waited years to come forward was "fear of his political power, his background as an attorney, and his family law enforcement ties."
That's the calculation every victim of a powerful man makes.
Swalwell spent those same years calling Donald Trump an agent of a foreign government – on camera, repeatedly, loudly – while the FBI had already briefed him on Christine Fang, a suspected Chinese intelligence operative who bundled donations for his 2014 congressional campaign and placed an intern inside his office.
Democrats gave him every tool of power a man could want: committee assignments, national television, a frontrunner slot in California's governor's race.
Now Pirro is working to find out exactly how he used it.
Swalwell skated through the Fang Fang scandal, through two impeachment trials, through years of complaints that never went anywhere – because Congress protected him.
Pirro doesn't answer to the caucus.
She answers to the law.
Swalwell called the allegations a political hit job and said he'll fight them.
He's going to need a very good lawyer.
Sources:
- Cameron Arcand, "EXCLUSIVE: Jeanine Pirro Breaks Down Why Swalwell Could Face Decades Behind Bars," The Daily Wire, April 15, 2026.
- Staff, "Swalwell Under Federal Investigation For Alleged Sexual Assault," The Daily Wire, April 17, 2026.
- Charlotte Hazard, "Jeanine Pirro Opens Up Tip Line for Alleged Inappropriate Conduct by Eric Swalwell," The National News Desk, April 16, 2026.
- Staff, "Pirro Opens Tip Line for Alleged Swalwell Sexual Misconduct," Washington Examiner, April 16, 2026.
- Staff, "DC US Attorney Calls for Any Victims of California Rep. Eric Swalwell to Come Forward," Fox 5 DC, April 14, 2026.
- Reuters Staff, "Eric Swalwell Investigated for Alleged Rape of Lonna Drewes, LA County Sheriff's Dept. Says," CNBC, April 14, 2026.