BREAKING: three *more* women have come forward to @cnn.com and accuse Rep. Eric Swalwell of sexual misconduct...

[demmiblue]

BREAKING: three *more* women have come forward to @cnn.com and accuse Rep. Eric Swalwell of sexual misconduct, including Swalwell sending them unsolicited explicit messages or nude photos:

www.cnn.com/2026/04/10/u...

— Alex Ip 葉清霖 (@alexip718.com) 2026-04-10T22:44:29.299Z

A former staffer of Rep. Eric Swalwell, a leading Democratic candidate for California governor, says that the congressman raped her when she was heavily intoxicated and left her bruised and bleeding, an allegation Swalwell strongly denies.

“I was pushing him off of me, saying no,” the woman told CNN of the incident, which she said happened in 2024 after she had stopped working in Swalwell’s office. “He didn’t stop.”

She said it was the second time Swalwell had nonconsensual sexual contact with her while she was drunk. In 2019, when she was still working for him, she said she woke up naked with him in a hotel room after a night of heavy drinking. She said she had no memory of what happened but could feel physically that they’d had sexual contact.

Three other women who spoke with CNN also alleged various kinds of sexual misconduct by the Democratic congressman – including Swalwell sending them unsolicited explicit messages or nude photos.

https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/10/us/eric-swalwell-sexual-misconduct-allegations-invs

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

1. omg. thankfully before the primary.

[Fiendish Thingy]

23. Yeah, but too late for his name to be removed from the ballot. Nt

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

25. Californians will figure it out

[a kennedy]

2. Ok, stupid question, is he married??

[mr715]

3. Yes

If you listen to the GOP, they say she is a Chinese spy.

This is off course nonsense, but it is what they say.

[a kennedy]

5. Thanks.....am only just starting to see all this stuff....

[mr715]

7. Lots of stuff happening simultaneously.

Did you see that Melania got out of her cage and proved she isn't fluent in any language?

[pcdb]

27. He did have an inappropriate relationship with Christine Fang who worked for Chinese intelligence.

I haven't heard anyone say he is married to a CCP spy. No charges were brought against him and no probes found any evidence of wrong-doing.

[mr715]

34. I thought they were married?

[Lifeafter70]

4. Yes with children

[a kennedy]

6. Thank you.

[demmiblue]

10. I remember posting about the time he brought his daughter, Cricket, to pay respect to RBG.

[mr715]

19. His daughter has the same name as the dog Noem killed?

[demmiblue]

29. It's her nickname; Kathryn is her given name. n/t

[mr715]

32. Its a cute name regardless.

Sheesh, sad situation for their family.

The dog story was sad too. Cricket is a better name for a dog tho.

[Lifeafter70]

42. Yes I remember that too

I'm really sick after reading the cnn article, the details broke my heart. I'm hoping it's not true but my gut says it is. God I so want to be wrong.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

11. yes with 3 kids

[a kennedy]

13. Damn, I hope these are untrue rumors.

Thanks.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

17. sounds like he is the BIll Cosby of politics... women wake up in his bed, fuzzzy about how

[Bettie]

8. It's OK to be proud of your penis

but it is not OK to send unsolicited pictures of it or of yourself naked.

If someone asks for that sort of thing, and you want to be in politics* just don't send it.

*Note: Democratic politics, Republicans don't care about child rape, so a naked picture isn't going to move them

[Trueblue Texan]

12. If he did this he should be held accountable like anyone else.

I would like more evidence than an accusation during an election year. I understand these things aren't always reported in a timely manner, but usually when there is sexually inappropriate behavior, it follows some kind of pattern. There should be more evidence.

[Bettie]

20. Especially an accusation with the name Roger Stone

attached to it.

When Roger Stone's name is attached to anything, I am FAR less inclined to believe it, but, honestly, it's probably done the damage already. That's what Roger Stone does, he ruins Democrats.

[TheRickles]

64. I haven't seen Stone's name attached to this one. Could you provide a link? Thanks.

[magicarpet]

76. No, no, i am not saying I have any proof Hanitty/Stone are pulling on Swalwell as they engineered on ,..

... former Senator Al Franken. Blowing that USO plane ride way out of proportion.

Just thinking out loud,.. hopping the same scheme does not trash Swalwell's career if proven innocent.

Four women complaining,.. this sounds like a Justice Cavanaugh confirmation hearing.

But the Dems will not hand Swalwell a boys will be boys hall pass and ignore this.

[VMA131Marine]

96. You are thinking along the same lines as me wrt Roger Stone

It’s too coincidental.

[TheRickles]

128. No link has been provided to document the Stone connection, so I'm dubious.

[a kennedy]

18. Reminds me that of, ugh, Bert Favor of the Packers, Jets, Vikings.

[Bettie]

21. Brett Favre....I'm from Wisconsin!

So, even though I don't follow football, I know his name.

[a kennedy]

39. Yah, him, and I don't EVER say his name he's Bert Favor to me.

[Irish_Dem]

9. Oh no. He was one of my favorites.

This world is too much sometimes.

[John1956PA]

36. I did not care for him. Red flags all over. Messy divorce prior to 2016. I am glad he is out of contention.

[Irish_Dem]

56. Wow I had no idea.

I fell for it hook, line, sinker.
Didn't know about the messy divorce.

Sigh, are there any good guys in politics?

[John1956PA]

70. We have to accept a certain number of flaws in any candidate.

Swalwell turned me off because of his divorce and because of his lack of military service. His snarky social media posts critical of Trump did not impress me. Yes, he was in our corner on the impeachment issue, and he does have fortitude when squaring off again political foes. But, overall, he seems to have a bent to pursue racy amorous adventures and high flying real estate deals. I know of no significant efforts he had made for any charitable or altruistic causes.

The GOP serves up a good share of combat veterans. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell (a Republican) is from Allegheny County. He narrowly lost the 2020 Pennsylvania 17th District Congressional House race to Democrat Connor Lamb. Parnell has an impressive combat record. He was shot in the back of the neck (resulting in seepage of spinal fluid) but kept rallying his men. In 2021, he geared up for another run for a House seat. However, word got out that he had domestic incidents with his estranged wife over child custody. I think PTSD had something to do with that. Ultimately, he abandoned that second run for a House seat.

JFK was heroic in WWII. Tell-all books about his personal time in the White House paint a picture of a man with issues.

No one is perfect. The high pressure in the top rungs of political service can bring out the worst aspects of the politician's nature. We have to make our voting choices based on who we think is the better candidate.

[Melon]

105. Except in the case of sexual assault...that should be a hard no.

[John1956PA]

108. Absolutely. You are correct about not tolerating the crime of sexual assault, if it is clearly apparent.

[jfz9580m]

124. Zero tolerance on Sexual assault, sexual harassment

Zero tolerance on creepiness and sexual harassment in any form.

Where there should be room for give is on language and joke policing that offends no one in context except liability obsessed PMC types who use that shit to attack the credibility of female complainants.

Happened to me and was hell on top of a workplace culture that reeked of implicit non-local sexism and harassment. Non-local as in systemic but you never see the architects aside from a clunker-Prof John Hennessy. He is the only Prof I have seen associated with Google whom I don’t genuinely hate and distrust completely.

I somehow don’t hate Prof Hennessy but identify him as merely a fellow misanthrope ineptly trying humanism. The difference is I am not shilling rubbish ai or low paid gig work. Just refusing to go back to the era of scarlet letters. I back my guesses about people as they are made inside hell. He is a clunker but not a horrible human being like Fei Fei Li, Peter Norvig, Sebastian Thrun (fraudulent edtech peddling blankity blank), Thomas Insel, Christopher Manning, and that bleep bleep bleep Alex Pentland and other people I cannot seem to discuss without profanity.

The people I met directly weren’t charlatans, creepy or sexist or racist (bully for them!), just not bothered about anything but ass covering while zealously ushering in a PanOpticon for Google/Facebook etc as the solution for open science, bias etc with an execrable “women’s health” module tacked on and methods out of 3-body problem with the kinds of poly crisis promoting technocrats who expect eternal gratitude for fixes to the security issues that go with their buying cheap shit and waving through methods from surveillance capitalists and the least essential type of national security state (aka pointless defense contracting). It was a nightmare to endure. There was one genuinely cool British biology professor whom I liked. He is retired I think. Good for him. That place was a hell.

All I could estimate about the scientists I met was that they were competent, hadn’t engaged in misconduct, weren’t bigoted or sexist. Probably why they piously go around making a virtue of being on display. There was a girl who didn’t seem like that big a pill or that fatuous and a few embattled humans like me and one decent Indian grad student.

That the rest were individually and collectively repulsive human beings still was very on brand.
Well maybe they weren’t that bad. Calvinists without much self awareness or common sense at the very least and shallow thinkers outside narrow areas.

But at least I am pretty sure they never met Epstein and that is the bar for our nauseating and ugly elites.

I can always manage to in any crisis to recommend those people as coldly as possible without kayfabe. But with zero human warmth.
They are still the better people in those systems.

Oh well-no misconduct, no sexual harassment or sexism or bigotry and not dishonest in context is for such ugly people adequate.

But while it is the right thing to do to give such utter assholes the coldest pass possible, nobody could actually personally like any of them except as a cross to bear in a permacrisis their noxious technofascist parasites force.

Besides I no longer accept that that is the only way to do science at a time when garbage politics imperils science funding except when administered by Zuckerberg’s moll or sports billionaire funded tax shelters that claim to back prison reform. That last sentence is called hyperbole, truthiness and creative speculation.

And they can suck it up if they get doxxed as I do daily here in India. We!!!!!
🖕

But by contrast I was genuinely fond of my main postdoc lab. Truly cool people in every way. And my mentor was as elite as anyone anywhere. He just wasn’t a douchebag. Which seems to be the main qualification elite scientists must have to work at Dartmouth, Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Columbia, UPenn, U C Berkeley, Brown etc.

[Irish_Dem]

122. Well yes of course.

Humans are complex creatures, capable of both good and evil, even at the same time.

The lack of military service doesn't bother me.
I grew up in a military family and non military would see it as
not an easy or enjoyable lifestyle, it's a hard life
without much reward or appreciation.

Yes and as it has been seen, men with power use it for nefarious deeds.

I just thought Swalwell was a good guy.

[True Dough]

92. If I ever learn of anything scandalous involving either of these two

then I'm going to lose faith in humanity!

[Irish_Dem]

123. Same here, game over, wrap it up and go home.

Let humanity go extinct forever.
No sense trying to save it.

[walkingman]

14. This seems strange??

Why would someone who had unsolicited sex with him in 2019 continue the relationship and then 5 years later become victim again....and not say anything about it. So now a year later in the middle of his campaign she accuses him. Something doesn't smell right but the fallout is already happening.

On April 10, 2026, the San Francisco Chronicle published a story where a former Swalwell staffer claimed that Swalwell, 17 years her senior, had sexually assaulted her on more than one occasion. The article claimed that in September 2019, Swalwell "invited her out for drinks and she became so severely intoxicated that she did not remember the rest of the night. She said she woke up naked in Swalwell’s hotel bed and could feel the effect of vaginal intercourse." Further, the staffer recounted a similar incident in April 2024, when Swalwell invited her for drinks after a charity gala, "during which she became so inebriated that she only remembers snippets of the night, including pushing Swalwell away and telling him, “No,” while he allegedly forced himself on her."[132]

Swalwell described the allegations as "lies" and claimed that they were intended to damage his campaign for governor.[

[MorbidButterflyTat]

30. Weird, huh?

[hlthe2b]

15. I'm only going to take a breath, remembering the RW radio personality that set up Al Franken...

and remembering our own Gillibrand-led mob that painted him "guilty" (of something, though a misguided comedy routine never seemed the horrific "bit" for them to hang their hats on, but they certainly hung Al sans "trial"--yes, I have still not forgiven ANY of them for that)

So, I say that only to mention that sometimes the RW is more than happy to solicit "volunteers" to turn on a Dem powerful figure (or one they perceive as a "threat." Do we really think they have not employed a team of PIs to investigate Swalwell and so many other Dems? Finding this woman made accusations (and perhaps others), do we really think they would not approach this or other women to "offer personal benefit" by escalating their accusations and going public, whether true or not?


And, while this feminist wants women to be taken seriously (Epstein victims as well), I also don't want us to be stupid, gullible, or "set up". Given the clear opportunity for this to be NOT as it might SEEM, I think these women need to be investigated and not simply their allegations. That includes any corroborating friends.

[EdmondDantes_]

71. Please also remember the 7 other women who came forward

Including Democratic staffers. Otherwise it looks a lot like letting liking someone means not holding them accountable.

[hlthe2b]

80. We shall see. If you read what I wrote, I never suggested not holding anyone GENUINELY accountable

YET, the timing (and potential motivations) on and behind this are intensely suspect, and we would be fools not to investigate it fully BEFORE WE LYNCH ERIC SWALLWELL. I am concerned with fairness, and I think I made my point about how we were manipulated as hell by the whole Al Franken incident.

In wanting to make sure VALID accusations are appropriately dealt with, I also want to question why NOW? Swallwell has been in Congress a long time. Some here wish to take this at face value. THEY ARE ACCUSATIONS. Why do some not want them to be validated and investigated? Let's not be saps, okay? This hardcore feminist woman does not want Dems to make another horrific mistake if the truth is a "manipulated scenario." And yes, women do lie on occasion- just as the accused men quite often do

As I said, take a breath. Dems can be our own worst enemies quite often in our zeal to "do the right thing," but without taking the time to make sure of the facts (and who might be manipulating them).

[EdmondDantes_]

106. Except by disregarding almost all of the accusations against Franken, it mostly just sounds like refusing to acknowledge

things and then claiming it was all a lie. Franken defenders almost always just mention the first accusation and ignore all the others and that some of those others had contemporaneous accounts from people they told at the time. Doesn't really come across as being willing to accept the reality.

As for timing being inconvenient, what was your thought about Christine Blasey Ford not coming forward until Kavanaugh was up for the Supreme Court?

Nobody is calling for him to be thrown in jail without trial. But with 4 or 5 accusers, including corroborating evidence, there's virtually no chance he's innocent. Not wanting to hold people accountable just because they are Democrats doesn't do much to sell that we care about women as a party.

[hlthe2b]

109. Your comment to me is disingenous and disgraceful. Shame on you. I did not say anything of the

kind and you damned well know it. Don't you DARE tell a DU WOMAN that THEY don't care about other women. That is so damned abusive for YOU to say.

You clearly missed the comments I made when MORE Info came out besides the breaking news blurb--not that you would acknowledge it since you seem to think YOU care more about women than I-- a WOMAN do. And that is bullshit that you as an apparent man (or at least a poster with a male screen name) should know better than to accuse a DU woman of doing. A DUer with integrity would read the following and apologize to me. You owe me one (and other women here) one for damned sure.

https://upload.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=21164419
https://upload.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=21164490

[EdmondDantes_]

119. I'm going by what you posted in this thread

Where you said:

"I'm only going to take a breath, remembering the RW radio personality that set up Al Franken...
7:01 PM

and remembering our own Gillibrand-led mob that painted him "guilty" (of something, though a misguided comedy routine never seemed the horrific "bit" for them to hang their hats on, but they certainly hung Al sans "trial"--yes, I have still not forgiven ANY of them for that)

So, I say that only to mention that sometimes the RW is more than happy to solicit "volunteers" to turn on a Dem powerful figure (or one they perceive as a "threat." Do we really think they have not employed a team of PIs to investigate Swalwell and so many other Dems? Finding this woman made accusations (and perhaps others), do we really think they would not approach this or other women to "offer personal benefit" by escalating their accusations and going public, whether true or not?"

Where you absolutely said Franken was hung out to dry from one allegation. That's simply not true. And then go into a conspiracy theory of the women being paid off (without even the slightest evidence). Your gender has nothing to do with your words. I neither knew or cared your gender and it's certainly not a shield from pointing out that you were inaccurate in how you portrayed the accusations against Franken. And calling my behavior in pointing out your own words abusive is quite the take.

Tweeden didn't make Franken take that obviously inappropriate picture or do the other things to her or other women. He wasn't set up. He put himself in that position. When you have multiple independent accusers, with corroboration at the time, it's exceedingly unlikely the guy is innocent. Can you provide any examples where that was the case? And that's before you get into the statistics on false rape allegations, and the general disbelief people have towards victims especially when they are accusing a powerful man.

I'm not going to apologize for believing victims, especially when there are multiple victims and with corroborating contemporary evidence. I'm not going to apologize for not downplaying what way too many of us men put people, especially women through.

[hlthe2b]

121. Bullshit.

Enough of your rude, misinformed mansplaining. I said we should take a breath while the facts come out. PERIOD.

[Deuxcents]

16. Is he the same Rep that served on the impeachment committee/panel?

[mr715]

22. Yes.

A particularly effective orator and (mostly self-identified) rising star. Ran for President very briefly.

But... he's been accused of rape and sexual misconduct.

So... Welp, that is that.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

28. Then...

...mission accomplished.

Next?

[mr715]

37. Huh?

What mission? What is next?

Fewer sex pests in elected office?

[MorbidButterflyTat]

43. Hook, line, and sinker.

[mr715]

46. That isn't the flex you think it is.

[Deuxcents]

33. Hard to believe..he's been on Lawrence O many times. How do you run for higher office w/ these skeletons in your close

Closet

[mr715]

35. WHY do you?

It is going to come back to bite you.

[Maru Kitteh]

24. Don't ever say what a man won't do.

Advice of my grandmother I didn’t understand at the time.

Time will tell. I will reserve any judgment until more evidence is forthcoming but in general, I tend to believe women.

[Pisces]

48. My mother always said never say not my man!

[Mossfern]

134. Your mother was right

I said those very words adamantly ....until I found out otherwise.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

26. Gee, I'm sure this has absolutely nothing to do with his running for California governor!

Wait until they hear what the MAGAt Republicans have been doing.

[mr715]

40. There are plenty of cromulent Democrats running.

Last edited Fri Apr 10, 2026, 10:02 PM - Edit history (1)

Not all of them are accused of rape or sexual misconduct in a jungle primary. The field needs to get narrowed or the choice will be between 2 different Republicans.

This news makes it more likely Swalwell is drop out and more likely Democrats will hold on the their governor seats in CA.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

50. Apparently his name will remain on the ballot.

Ever hear of Al Franken?

How about Tara Reade?

I hate how Democrats do MAGAt Republicans dirty work for them.

It's all over this ugly thread.

[mr715]

53. Yeah, ever hear of Tina Smith?

I don't fetishize politicians. We have a transactional relationship with them. If one of them is accused of rape, I can choose from another.

I am personally of the opinion that Sen. Al Franken did not do anything worthy of resigning, but he did. He took the moral high ground. Good for him. I like him more for it and I like Gillibrand less for it.

That is what Democrats do. Party over person. Country over party.


So, I don't know your point. You are making the vague Dems should support Dems no matter what? Well I disagree. Some Dems might be rapists. I don't want to vote for them.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

67. Did I say Dems should support Dems no matter what? Why put words in my mouth, trying to support your vapid point?

How about waiting for some evidence? Some anonymous bluesky post is evidence enough? MAGAt friendly CNN?

Al Franken and Tara Reade were both MAGAt Republican right wing hit jobs. That's MY point.

And there are always gullible "Democrats" falling for it every time.

Have a good night.

[beaglelover]

81. I'm with you. I'm reserving judgement until more provable facts are known.

Im so sick of this destroying someone's career and reputation over an accusation.

[choie]

94. I agree with you.

I'm going to say something for which I'll be slammed, I don't believe in the 'believe all women' trope (and yes, I'm a woman) I wish more women would go to the police instead of running to CNN on the even of an election. Okay, I'm waiting to be slammed.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

116. Not by me

I agree.

[Raine]

120. Totally agree. nt

[Xavier Breath]

132. Rec.

[niyad]

112. I have to say that your posted description of Democrats by using a

word* invented by writers on "The Simpsons" in the 90's which was intended as a nonsense word is not quite as effective as one might have hoped.

*yes, I know that this nonsense word has gained recognition in the last few years, but it still fails to impress.

[mr715]

113. I like it.

It embiggens the language.

My point is, if you prefer, there are plenty of credible Democrats in the field.

[niyad]

114. Yes, it is clear that you do. Interesting choices.

[Tree Lady]

31. I don't understand why men think

They can run for office and this won’t come out. Was it an affair and he broke up and she is unhappy, women paid to come forward. Or women wait for the time it will hurt the most.

He has been in office a long time, why now? Because of election. He was in the lead and I am sure he is out now.

I do want all women’s stories to come out but only true. After Al Franken I begin to doubt. The pics sent can be proven, how stupid can he be?

[Grim Chieftain]

38. Great timing with Melania's speech yesterday

Hmmm...

[Klarkashton]

41. He's a very public figure.and long time congressman.

I'd imagine that this would have come to light before this.

[senseandsensibility]

44. That was my thought also

He ran for President too.

[Sympthsical]

63. People knew

One of those whispered about things that, the more local you were, the more you at least suspected something like this would come out one day.

Think Kevin Spacey in Hollywood type of things. Everyone knew he was shady for decades, and then one day it just sorted of exploded into the public sphere.

[mr715]

66. Or Lindsay Graham.

[FloridaBlues]

86. Why didn't this come out when he ran for President? Why now?

[karynnj]

100. Huge field, where he never gained traction, so was never really vetted

I think the reaction of his peers, his campaign chairs, endorsers etc will be interesting. These are people who actually know him to some degree. I suspect that the Democratic House staffers very likely are a small enough world, that they know which members to, for example, not get in an elevator with.

Remember that the Tara Reid accusations went nowhere - likely because Biden had no such reputation.

[bucolic_frolic]

45. It's almost like Republicans escape such issues, but Democrats are tarred with them

and have to drop out of politics immediately, like Al Franken, on the slimmest of evidence. Then Democrats have to run female candidates so the GOP can tar and feather them too.

Our party and candidates are being bullied. Unless evidence becomes conclusive, verifiable.

[sop]

72. Because Democrats care if their candidates are accused of such things, Republicans apparently don't.

[stollen]

47. The women's experience suggests their drinks were spiked

Katie Porter coming to bat?

Time to learn about the dem candidates in depth and ASAP.

[magicarpet]

49. Hope this is not a right wing ploy to torpedo his election chances.

I could see Shawn Hanitty coming up with some scheme such as this. Swalwell us certainly on the top if the trDUMP enemy list.

If true Swalwell's career is likely toast. Geez that is a bunch of ladies lined up with the same complaint.

[CoopersDad]

59. Of course it is.

I put nothing past Roger Stone et al.

The timing, this is a planned attack.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

87. It's obvious.

[RandySF]

51. It's over.

His independent expenditure group pulled their ads.

[dsc]

52. This is bad

very bad. He needs to drop out now.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

54. and there go the endorsements:

https://www.cnn.com/2026/04/10/politics/democrats-withdraw-endorsements-of-eric-swalwell-and-demand-he-end-bid-for-california-governor

California Sen. Adam Schiff and Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, both longtime allies, said they were withdrawing their endorsements. Swalwell’s campaign chair, Rep. Jimmy Gomez, said he’d quit the position. And a top adviser, Courtni Pugh, who was Swalwell’s liaison to labor groups, told CNN she had left the campaign “as soon as I learned the seriousness of the allegations,” and that she didn’t know how many others had also quit.

A spokesperson for Californians for a Fighter, an independent expenditure group supporting Swalwell, said in a statement: “In light of the serious allegations, the IE is suspending campaign activity immediately.”

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she had told Swalwell to end his bid. California Gov. Gavin Newsom did not immediately call on Swalwell to drop out but said in a statement: “As we continue to learn more, these allegations from multiple sources are deeply troubling and must be taken seriously.” Hakeem Jeffries, the House Democratic leader, said that “these are very serious allegations that require a serious and thorough investigation.”

Meanwhile, several of Swalwell’s rivals in the governor’s race called on him to drop out following reports by CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle in which women accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct.

[Botany]

55. Why do I smell Republican hit job on this?

Quick look @ Swalwell. This happened in 2019 and now 7 years later it is just coming up?
How much are the women getting paid?

I might be wrong but something about this stinks. Botany =

[New Breed Leader]

57. because it is

[H2O Man]

60. The timing

raises fumes.

[Lifeafter70]

117. The timing srinks

And I believed in and supported him.
What I couldn't ignore was a grooming technique that unfortunately I recognized. This same technique shouted at me as I read the accounts of interactions with him from the 5 women.
I so want this not to be true but unfortunately I believe the women.
Just like with Harvey Wienstien, women are reluctant to come forward. They are more at risk when they do. But sometimes we find there is safety in numbers when we do.


I like and respect you, having read many of your post over the years. So please don't take offense.

[jfz9580m]

129. Same here

I respect H20 man and other posters. It took three years for my dad who is an Indian military vet and a decent man and a feminist in any material way, but a bit foul-mouthed (wonder where I get that from ), to finally get that MeToo isn’t about men like him.
His female students and employees have always liked him.

But I just don’t think you can have the same “feel” for this shit without facing harassment as a woman, especially in grey areas, that cannot be reported at all.

That is why where it is at least easy for the truth to confirm it, as it seems to be in this one, I hope the targets get the kind of fair shake many of us have zero hope of.

The Al Franken case was more confusing. I did not buy that one GOP complainant and since I used to like Franken, I admit to not following it much.

And while I did believe Tara Reade, that was a one-off and Biden was running against a serial rapist. I think Biden did a better job on some fronts than he gets credit for.

Sexual harassers usually follow a specific pattern and Biden’s didn’t seem to fit that. There I did wonder about the timing as each case is different. But I still believed Reade because you develop an instinct for these things overtime. Still I overall respect President Biden’s contributions in context. That may have been a one-off. I saw no other allegations against Biden to indicate the sort of pattern of indecency and really shameful lack of self control plus entitlement that fuels some of these men.

It is possible to hold complicated views in a situation as dire as the US Presidency and still believe Reade, be uncertain about the Franken case, and believe all the credible (i.e. not doctored ai images - I saw one reference to that wrt Trump on Snopes) allegations against Trump, Gaetz, Cuomo and now Swalwell.

I never liked Swalwell.

I am pretty zero tolerance on creepiness and sexual harassment as a permanently slandered as schizophrenic pot user, with a tendency to swear and crack bad jokes and no serious hope of a reprieve unless I agree to shady shit I will not agree to.

I live in grey areas and handle them better than many at great personal and professional cost without absurd levels of faux purity.

It is the price of a clean conscience with the unhappiness of ostracism. After 14-16 years of this shit, I have no wish to rejoin society beyond ungraciously doing the bare minimum for societies, systems and people I unabashedly hate.

Though I have a small network of trust mostly from before 2011 or a few since like my oncologist or medical mj doctor.

These are uncomfortable topics only if you care about what people think in the worst ways.

These women seem screwed over not transactional. It is never easy to come forward in these societies and I support them, as much as I support every Trump accuser from E Jeanne to the 13 yo whom Trump tried to force oral sex from. I hope Trump gets held accountable for that and I believe Swalwell’s accusers.

I care about not being a bully or performatively pure plus actually shady and transactional.
Oh well..

[Sympthsical]

58. This is why I ignored the "People need to drop out!" chorus

Because if this had come out after the primary, we could have been cooked.

I literally just said on DU a few days ago this man is a walking future scandal. I'm not prescient. I have friends who have worked in Alameda County and Oakland politics for years who kept saying "Just wait" when it comes to Swalwell.

He has always had this part of him waiting to fall out.

But people liked his tweets, so you were a right-winger if you noted he maybe wasn't all that great.

Welp.

[some_of_us_are_sane]

61. I'm convinced this is more

"TRUMP'S FOG" (being farted out into the news cycle.)

FIRST HE CRAPS OUT IN HIS STUPID, ILLEGAL WAR...... and then MELANIA'S BIG "IMPROMPTU" EPSTEIN SPEECH (I wonder how much he had to pay her to do that ) and still.... STILL his reckless and juvenile BIG WAR hasn't caused national amnesia from his own Epstein stinking quagmire.

What's a SPOILED NARCISSIST TO DO????

[New Breed Leader]

62. Eric is fighting:

Link to tweet

[beaglelover]

85. Good.

[bamagal62]

65. Wow. I hate to hear this.

So disappointing. You just never know, do you?

[Orrex]

68. He should run on the Republican ticket

This sort of thing is electoral gold for them.

[True Dough]

95. They'd put those allegations

in large print on their campaign literature, right there among their supposed bona fides.

[Grim Chieftain]

69. I think it's essential we give Rep. Swalwell the benefit of the doubt

This could be another Trump deflection. Rep. Swalwell has my support until it's proven the accusations have validity.

[Rebl2]

73. Interesting

it’s right before the primary in a couple months. Were they paid by republicans to come out and say this now? Maybe.

[Grim Chieftain]

75. Plus the Epstein files are back in the news

The timing is curious. It should also be noted Swalwell has been a fierce Trump critic.

[Rebl2]

79. Correct

The timing is just suspect. Especially since he is the front runner.

[beaglelover]

83. Or paid by Tom Steyer

[IcyPeas]

101. Steyer has a tv ad running here saying Swallwell missed a lot of votes and

he's always on vacation. (It's a short so no thumbnail)

https://youtube.com/shorts/4YwgQWbwEXo

[Rebl2]

135. Republicans

and democrats in house and senate have way too much time off if you ask me. For example Easter vacation time is two weeks. Majority of working people don’t get any time off.

[beaglelover]

82. Definitely!

[Sympthsical]

84. Republicans would've waited until after the primary

Since he was one of the higher polling, there was a good chance of him becoming the Democratic candidate. Republicans would've benefited far more from holding off for that possibility. Or even waiting a bit. We still have seven weeks until the primary. It feels like a Republican would drop this bomb to cause chaos closer to June.

There's been whispers about this guy for years. That's why we have primaries.

And it's not like we don't have a full bench of Democrats. Whoever the Democratic candidate is will win.

[beaglelover]

88. We have a jungle primary out here in CA. The top 2 candidates from the primary go to the general.

Right now, it's a real possibility that the 2 choices in the general will both be republicans. If we can get a democrat to the general, then you are correct, they will win.

[Sympthsical]

93. I am not nearly as panicked about this as social media seem to be

Seven weeks is forever in an election. There will be plenty of time to coalesce in this cycle. End of April is where I start drawing the line.

We've been getting these panicked drop out stories since back in January or February. And stories of that nature tend to benefit the people who are in the lead at the time.

I'm content to the let the process play out, and today we're getting a lesson on why that's important. Swalwell has been one of the top-polling candidates so far. Imagine if people dropped out, endorsed him, and then this stuff came out later. It would have been a far bigger mess.

It's precisely because we have so much time left that we can absorb this sort of thing without too much trouble.

Full disclosure: I have never liked Swalwell precisely because I've known these rumors for a while through friends in local politics - I was honestly shocked at the audacity of him running - and I'm a leaning Steyer person right now.

[beaglelover]

98. I hope you are correct. I'm not sure I could back a billionaire but if he's the last Democrat standing in the general

election, or course I will vote for him. Since Swalwell is out, I'm going to support Katie for now.

[Sympthsical]

99. I hear you, and that's perfectly fair

The billionaire thing is why I'm merely a lean Steyer at this point. I don't feel totally easy about that either.

[yardwork]

136. Thanks for pointing that out.

I'm puzzled by all the posts saying that the timing is suspicious.

To me, the timing seems very reasonable. People who know about his history don't want him to win the primary. Similar to people not wanting Clarence Thomas or Brett Kavanaugh to be appointed to SCOTUS. History shows that they were right. It's not good to have sexual predators on SCOTUS. They make bad decisions. Californians probably don't want a sexual predator as governor. Cough cough Cuomo.

People forget this is the primary, and it's California. The Democratic nominee will win unless a huge scandal upends their candidacy right before the general election. (That happened to the Republican candidate for governor in NC, which is why we have a Democratic governor right now.)

This is exactly the right time for this to come out.

[Sympthsical]

138. Agree. It's very monkey's paw, tho

"We need to thin out the Democratic field so two Republicans don't end up on the ballot!"

Wish granted.

But that's the thing about wishes. Sometimes you gotta be a little more specific in the asking.

[yardwork]

139. Are there more surprises lurking in the field?

[Sympthsical]

140. Not that I'm aware of

I have friends who are very active in Bay Area politics and work on various campaigns, and I haven't heard anything through the grapevine about any of the others. Swalwell was a known ticking time bomb. When he first announced running for governor, a lot of people in my circle were surprised. It was an insane decision driven by an ego that had grown too comfortable with getting away with things. The audacity was almost impressive in its way.

Of those remaining, Porter, Steyer, Yee, or Becerra will do. (Mahan's got his tech bro issues, Villagroisa is just kind of a has been, and I can't speak to the others).

[lostincalifornia]

74. Even if the accusations were not true, Swalwell needs to officially drop out, even though his name will remain on the

ballot.

The stakes are just too high .

[beaglelover]

77. Timing is very suspect. I will reserve judgement until more provable facts come out.

Enough of this ruining someone's career over an unproven accusation.

[kimbutgar]

78. I'm so disappointed in him

He was my first choice now I have to look for another.

[Grim Chieftain]

107. And how do you know the accusations are true?

Accusations can be made without any validity whatsoever. Let's please not cave to what may well be Republican lies.

The timing is so suspicious - Melania's statements yesterday, the Epstein files brought front and center again - but wait! Swalwell!. This is what Republicans do - launch ICE, start a war, the list goes on and on, anything to draw attention away from Epstein and Trump's mental decline.

Let's not throw one of our own under the bus so quickly.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

115. +1,000,000,000

[kimbutgar]

141. Actually at first I thought it was false but then i got nervous it is true

[Grim Chieftain]

142. I am concerned it might be true, too

I thought he was smarter than that.

[Vinca]

89. I'm going to withhold judgement. It's not that I don't believe he might be capable of it - who knows - but the timing

is very odd and there's the fact the Trump DOJ hasn't been able to carry out the king's vendetta. Put nothing past Trump. For all we know, this could be the beginning of a tidal wave of accusations against many Democrats.

[Cha]

90. How could he not know this would come out?!

[karin_sj]

97. If true, this is horribly sad and disturbing

I've always liked him and planned to vote for him. I thought he'd make a great governor. If this is true, how the hell could he think that it wouldn't come out? If this is true, he has done a huge disservice to our state and our party that might leave us with a republican governor, which would be just terrible.

[The Wizard]

102. Where is Roger Stone?

This is the way he operates. He got Al Franken out of office the same way.

[DET]

103. I hate to say it...

…but the women’s accounts of their experiences with Swalwell sound disturbingly plausible. Their accounts are quite detailed and do not reflect well on the women, who seem to have kept in touch with Swalwell after his initial advances. Of course, it’s also entirely possible that a lowlife hanger-on like Roger Stone could have made up these accounts, but it just doesn’t feel like it to me.

So disappointing. I was upset when I heard about Swalwell’s affair with a Chinese spy, but this is a whole different level of sordid and potentially criminal behavior. BTW, what is it with men who think that any woman wants to see a picture of their private parts?That is disgusting.

[Lifeafter70]

118. I really liked Swalwell and was planing on voting for him

But than I read the women's accounts of what happened. I recognized a specific grooming technique that was the same in all of their stories.
It made me my heartache to realize that they were telling the truth.

[Sneederbunk]

104. Interesting timing.

[mzmolly]

110. Crap.

[Faux pas]

111. FUCK

[allegorical oracle]

125. Having worked on Capitol Hill for two House members, it quickly became apparent to me

that many of these men get all puffed up with power. It's crazy. One member I worked for was definitely flirting around and eventually divorced his wife and married his chief of staff.

Must say that Swalwell didn't seem like one of those guys -- he seems more intelligent than that. Also, it seems like Repugs don't often get accused -- yet I can't believe they're not messing around just as much.

Am withholding judgement just in case it turns out to be a typical Repug dirty trick. The timing is suspicious.

[valleyrogue]

127. All of it or some of it could well be true,

Last edited Sat Apr 11, 2026, 01:37 PM - Edit history (1)

but the timing is extremely suspect.

[valleyrogue]

126. Strange how this all came out right before the primaries.

These allegations could be true, but the timing is certainly suspect.

It reminds me quite a bit of the b.s. Richard Mellon Scaife-backed outfits tried to do to Bill Clinton and ultimately failed.

[Emile]

130. Is California an open primary state? Will Swalwell name still be on the ballot?

[MichMan]

137. Yes and yes

The top two vote getters in the primary advance to the general election regardless of party

[MineralMan]

131. How Very Disappointing!

Ugh!

[jmbar2]

133. It could also be a gambit to undermine women's claims of sexual abuse

Democrats were very loud about "I believe her". That leaves us vulnerable if a guy gets falsely accused, like Franken. That's what's so troubling about these cases. A lot of claims are true; some aren't. The women are forced to go "on trial" to prove one way or the other. It's a no win situation.

I think a lot of MAGAts would love nothing more than to weaken our belief in women accusers - muddy the waters in the face of Epstein files, Melanomia, tRumps rape verdicts, and their other scandals.

I'm withholding judgment. This is stinky on several levels.

[Jedi Guy]

143. These allegations are certainly troubling and they're not going to just go away.

They need to be investigated thoroughly and, if there's sufficient evidence, charges should be brought and Swalwell should have his day in court just like anyone else.

That said, neither he nor anyone else has a right to a political office, neither the one he currently holds nor the one he's seeking. Judging by the wave of rescinded endorsements and resignations, there's sufficient smoke to make people close to him believe there's actual fire in there somewhere. That alone should be food for serious thought and concern about his future viability in politics.

To those latching onto the notion that this is a lie fabricated by Republicans, I have a simple question: why now? He is (or was) poised to potentially win the primary. If this is all smoke and mirrors, why not wait until after the primary and then spring this? If you're going to launch this kind of attack, you wait until the opportune moment and this isn't the opportune moment. Tarring him with these allegations after he'd won the primary would have been far more devastating and possibly thrown the race to the Republican candidate.

Furthermore, and I know this is going to draw some fire, if the allegations were precisely the same and the only difference was that he had an R after his name, no one would be offering tacit or active defenses that it's a fabrication or suggesting that he should stay in the race. It'd be universal condemnation and calls for him to drop out of the race and resign from Congress.

Defending him just because he's on our team is not a good look. The standard and the response should be the same regardless of which side of the aisle he's on because the principle matters. It's not logically or morally consistent to condemn the behavior from Trump or other Republicans and then hand wave it away when it's a Democrat or prevaricate about the person's behavior not being as bad as Trump's. Trump was convicted of 34 felonies. Does a hypothetical Democrat have to match or exceed Trump's criminality before it's problematic?

Approaching it that way changes it from #trustwomen to #trustwomenunlessitsademocrat and makes it look like it's less a principle and more a front determined by political expediency.

[Mysterian]

144. Wow! Right in the middle of a heated campaign....

What a weird coincidence!