Eric Swalwell built his career on "believe all women" and used it to go after Brett Kavanaugh.
Now four women are accusing Swalwell of sexual assault.
What came out about Swalwell is why even his closest allies are running.
The Former Staffer Who Accused Eric Swalwell of Sexual Assault
A former staffer who joined Representative Eric Swalwell's Castro Valley district office at age 21 says he made sexual advances toward her within weeks of her first day in 2019.
She says he sent explicit photos of himself on Snapchat and demanded nude pictures in return.
In September 2019, she woke up naked in his hotel room after a dinner out with friends and felt the physical effects of intercourse.
Five years later at a New York awards ceremony, Swalwell forced himself on her again while she was so intoxicated she could only remember pushing him away and saying no.
The San Francisco Chronicle didn't run the story on rumors alone.
Reporters reviewed text messages she sent a friend three days after the 2024 assault – the same friend who urged her to go to the police.
They reviewed medical records from a doctor's visit a week later, where she was tested for STDs and took a pregnancy test.
Her ex-boyfriend separately confirmed she told him about the assault as well.
Hours after the Chronicle published, CNN reported those same allegations – and added three more women who accused Swalwell of sending explicit photos, unsolicited sexual messages, and at least one account of waking up in his hotel room with no memory of how she got there.
Swalwell's own team sent a cease-and-desist letter Thursday night trying to kill the Chronicle story before it published.
It didn't work.
How the California Governor Race Collapsed Around Swalwell in Hours
Senior campaign adviser Courtni Pugh – the staffer Swalwell relied on to build his labor coalition – resigned before the story went live.
At least four senior staffers walked out the same day.
His two campaign co-chairs, Reps. Jimmy Gomez and Adam Gray, didn't just resign – they called on him to drop out of the race entirely.
Nancy Pelosi said she spoke to Swalwell personally about leaving the gubernatorial campaign.
Adam Schiff called on him to exit.
Sen. Ruben Gallego withdrew his endorsement and said he regretted defending Swalwell earlier in the week.
The California Teachers Association suspended its endorsement immediately.
SEIU California suspended its endorsement.
The independent expenditure committee funded by Uber and the California Medical Association announced it is "suspending campaign activity immediately."
Swalwell's response to all of it was to call the allegations "false" and "politically timed" – and threaten lawsuits.
The Hypocrisy Is the Story
In 2018, Eric Swalwell went on television and declared that if Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh were truly innocent, he would demand all his accusers be brought into the hearing and allowed to speak without restriction.
He said multiple accusers meant Kavanaugh was "most likely guilty."
And made "believe all women" his calling card.
Now he’s singing a different tune.
His lawyers are sending cease-and-desist letters to silence them.
Swalwell is calling their medical records, their text messages, and their corroborating witnesses a "coordinated effort to undermine his candidacy."
He is 17 years older than the woman he allegedly first targeted – a 21-year-old fresh out of college, new to the job, hired to work for him.
Democrats built an entire political movement on the principle that women who accuse powerful men should be believed automatically and without question.
Today, the California Democratic Party chair called the allegations "deeply disturbing" and stopped just short of pushing Swalwell out – because the party that weaponized "believe women" against Republicans now has to decide if it applies to their own.
Sources:
- Sophia Bollag and Anna Koseff, "A Former Swalwell Staffer Alleges He Sexually Assaulted Her. He Denies It," San Francisco Chronicle, April 10, 2026.
- Melanie Mason and Jeremy B. White, "Swalwell Campaign Imploding After New Sexual Assault Allegation," Politico, April 10, 2026.
- C. Douglas Golden, "2018 Swalwell Interview Calling on Kavanaugh to Face His Accusers Is Poison to 2026 Campaign," The Western Journal, April 8, 2026.
- Staff, "Ex-Staffer Claims Swalwell Sexually Assaulted Her," Washington Examiner, April 10, 2026.
- Staff, "Eric Swalwell Accused of Sexual Assault by Former Staffer in New Report," KTVU Fox 2, April 10, 2026.