Ex-Staffer Accuses Rep. Swalwell of Sexual Assault: ‘Eric Shouldn’t Have Raped Me’

Olivia Rondeau – 11 Apr 2026 – 8:58 min – Breitbart

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), the leading Democrat gubernatorial candidate for California, has been accused of rape by a former staffer and varying forms of sexual misconduct by three other women. Swalwell has denied all claims of assault, though he acknowledged he has made “mistakes” that he has to work through with his wife.

A preview to the allegations was released on X by one-time congressional candidate Cheyenne Hunt on Sunday, who reported that she had been in contact with multiple women who were planning on “coming forward and sharing their stories of sexual harassment and even alleged abuse at the hands of Eric Swalwell.” https://www.breitbart.com/t/assets/html/tweet-5.html#2041016223786504297

In her thread, Hunt wrote that the first alleged victim of Swalwell’s who approached her is a “close friend” of hers, but that she had since spoken to others whose alleged experiences with the congressman “fit the same pattern of manipulation and abuse of power.”

Other Democrats backed Hunt up online, with campaign advisor Bri Gillis claiming that “anyone who has been in DC for five minutes knows this.” https://www.breitbart.com/t/assets/html/tweet-5.html#2041489422345011639

“It’s actually wild it took this long,” Gillis added. 

Bhavik Lathia, a former staffer of both Kamala Harris’s and Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaigns, said he confirmed with a “trusted friend” that the allegations are “real.”

“Take it seriously. Eric Swallwell [sic] cannot be our nominee. There is going to be a lot more coming out soon,” Lathia wrote.  https://www.breitbart.com/t/assets/html/tweet-5.html#2041012931534692413

Specifics of the allegations finally came out on CNN on Friday, with four women giving accounts of their experiences with the married governor hopeful. 

“I was pushing him off of me, saying no,” a former staffer of Swalwell’s said of an alleged 2024 incident after she had stopped working in his office. “He didn’t stop.”

According to the anonymous woman, Swalwell had made nonconsensual sexual contact with her on a previous occasion in 2019 when she was still working for him. Both times, she was drunk. 

“I always felt like if I came forward, I was going to suffer the consequences because he was so powerful,” she said. “I’ve lived in fear every single day.”

After Swalwell ended his presidential campaign in July 2019, the staffer got a job in his district office before she said the two began communicating via Snapchat, where he allegedly sexted her and sent explicit photos of his genitals. 

“He also asked her to send him photos of herself, including nude photos, which she did,” CNN reported. “She said she found the attention flattering, but also felt nervous because he was her boss.”

“There was Eric the Snapchatting guy, and then there was Eric my boss,” the former staffer said. “It was like two different people completely.”

Later that year, she said Swalwell asked her to perform oral sex on him while they were in a parked car — a request she said she briefly complied with. 

In September of that year, she said she was alone with him at a bar in his congressional district when she became quite intoxicated. She said she remembered getting in a rideshare car, before walking up naked in bed with him in his hotel the next day. 

“I know that there was sexual contact because when I woke up in the morning, I could feel that there was,” she said. 

Swalwell allegedly told her that “last night was great” but she should leave. The staffer said she was treated coldly by him for the rest of the day, before he messaged her on Snapchat to tell her that he enjoyed the sexual encounter. 

“I said to him, ‘I really don’t remember it at all,’” she said. “And he was like, ‘Well, next time, we have to make sure you remember it.’”

The staffer later transferred to his Washington, D.C. office before leaving to a different job, but kept in sparing contact with the congressman. 

When Swalwell spoke at a New York gala that she was also attending in 2024, the woman said he asked her to meet for drinks. 

When he arrived by car to pick her up, she said he put his hand on her leg. 

“I said, ‘No funny business, like, that’s not what this is,’” she recounted. “And he was like, ‘Okay, okay.’”

After drinking with Swalwell, she said the next thing she remembered was Swalwell on top of her in a hotel room. 

She recalled him having sex with her while she tried “pushing him off” and telling him to stop to no avail. 

The former staffer said she woke alone in the room the next morning “completely confused,” and took a cab to her own hotel, where she called her mother. Her mother confirmed her account to CNN.

“My vagina was bleeding the next day after the sex, I had cuts and bruises on my body,” the former staffer said. When she looked in the mirror later, “I could see the bruises of where his hand had been on my rib cage and on my legs and near my thighs.”

Other sources reviewed by CNN, including the woman’s partner, friends, and a screenshot of an STD test she took the next day, also corroborated her story. 

She stated that Swalwell acknowledged the sex in a Snapchat message, telling her not to tell anybody. 

“I kept figuring out ways to blame myself: I shouldn’t have reached out to him at all, I should have left, I should have done this,” she said, explaining why she did not report the alleged assaults to police. 

“Well, Eric shouldn’t have raped me,” she added.

Another anonymous woman who said she met Swalwell in Spring 2025 after the two connected on Instagram said she, too, left his hotel room after a night of drinking with him left her with a “blur” of fuzzy memories. 

She said she told Swalwell that she felt “really disgusted and ashamed” about what happened, though the two remained in contact. In December, a month after he launched his gubernatorial bid, she sent him a lengthy message saying, “all you did was harm me.”

“I won’t bother you again!” the candidate replied. “Sorry.”

They still stayed in contact for a period of time after that, in what she compared to Stockholm syndrome. 

“I suffered a lot in silence… I had no desire to ever come after him or ever come out saying something,” she told CNN, explaining that Swalwell “used my vulnerabilities and the fact that I looked up to him to be able to get something from it.”

Two more women, including social media influencer Ally Sammarco, accused the congressman of sending them unsolicited nude photos or explicit messages.

“These allegations are false and come on the eve of an election against the front-runner for governor,” Swalwell said in a statement to CNN. “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.”

At least two of the women have since received cease-and-desist letters from Swalwell’s legal team, arguing that their claims were “undermined” by their “voluntary and cooperative relationship with Mr. Swalwell over the course of many years” following the alleged incidents.

An attorney for Swalwell also sent a letter to CNN denying that he had nonconsensual sex with any woman or ever had sexual relations with any of his staffers.

However, a member of Swalwell’s staff said they quit immediately after CNN sent questions about the allegations. 

In a video posted to social media after the article was published, Swalwell again denied the allegations but said he was sorry to his wife, Brittany Watts.  https://www.breitbart.com/t/assets/html/tweet-5.html#2042800069334962405

“A lot has been said about me through anonymous allegations. I thought it was important that you see and hear from me directly,” he began. “These allegations of sexual assault are flat false. They’re absolutely false. They did not happen. They have never happened, and I will fight them with everything that I have.”

“They also come on the eve of an election, where I have been the frontrunner candidate for governor in California,” Swalwell continued, before saying, “I do not suggest to you in any way that I am perfect or that I’m a saint. I have certainly made mistakes in judgement in my past, but those mistakes are between me and my wife. And to her, I apologize deeply for putting her in this position.”

He then invoked his time as a prosecutor to appeal to his supporters, saying that  he “went to court on behalf of victims — particularly on behalf of sexual assault victims.”

“That’s who I am and who I’ve always been,” he remarked. 

“This weekend, I’m going to spend time with my family and friends. I appreciate those who have reached out to me to show support, and I look forward to updating you very soon,” Swalwell concluded. 

Ally Sammarco, one of the woman whom he allegedly sent unsolicited pictures of his penis, replied to the video with, “You can’t be serious.” https://www.breitbart.com/t/assets/html/tweet-5.html#2042812919537103094

Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.