What happened to Eric Swalwell, who suspended his campaign for California on Sunday, was not a reckoning over gross behavior.
It was a #metoo witchhunt, organized and motivated by the Democrats’ desire not to lose the governor’s race to either of the two leading candidates, both of whom happen to be Republicans.
Representative Swalwell was polling third — behind Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco of the GOP. Yet his campaign — and career — are effectivel yover after a series of women came out alleging sexual misconduct by the congressman.
The rumors had apparently been circling for years.
“[H]is behavior towards women was known by all levels of our local government and the Alameda County Democratic Party,” as one reporter put it.
And when people asked why the reporter hadn’t reported the story out, he explained that he’d tried repeatedly. “I can’t force women to speak out, and when they chose not to, I didn’t push. I also knew that Swalwell was known to threaten litigation.”
Eric Swalwell has quit the California governor’s race after bombshell claims he sexually assaulted multiple women. REUTERS Now, Swalwell is facing criminal investigations and mounting calls to resign from Congress after suspending his gubernatorial campaign.
Many of his supporters had quickly retracted their endorsements — from the SEIU to Nancy Pelosi to Adam Schiff. The executive council of the powerful California Labor Federation voted unanimously to withdraw its support.
The claims cover a range of alleged misconduct. A former staffer says that she was raped by Swalwell while drunk in Manhattan in 2024. She told CNN she pushed him off her and said no, but he didn’t stop.
It was their second sexual encounter, the woman said, both after nights of heavy drinking; the first episode was in 2019, after Swalwell sent her photos of his penis and she reciprocated with nude photos. “She said she found the attention flattering, but also felt nervous because he was her boss,” CNN reported.
One night, she gave him oral sex in his car. Another night, they got drunk together at a bar and she woke up in a hotel room, naked next to him. “She said it wasn’t clear to her at the time that she had been sexually assaulted, but that she later realized that the encounter was not consensual because she had been so intoxicated.”
Another woman exchanged text messages with Swalwell and ended up being kissed by him in a bar without her consent, she said, also after heavy drinking. Another woman said he sent her obscene messages.
The women’s stories follow a similar pattern: Swalwell would show “close interest in their lives when they were in their twenties and finding their footing professionally, making them feel special and even starstruck,” explained CNN.
The messages would then turn increasingly sexual, yet the women continued writing back. “Many said they reciprocated and engaged with him in part because of his position of power.”
The congressman admitted to “mistakes in judgement in the past” but issued another defiant rebuttal of the fresh allegations leveled at him. Getty Images Let me state clearly that I’m no fan of Eric Swalwell. I find his political persona to be gross and divisive. Moreover, if he actually raped any of these women or assaulted them, he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
But it’s also undeniable that the allegations described by CNN and other outlets include a lot of what seems like grey area.
The women engaged in mutual, reciprocal, consensual flirtation in the DMs, followed by consensual heavy drinking. They may not have wanted to do it, but they did not relay those feelings to Swalwell “because of his position of power.”
Gross, sure. Lecherous? Undeniable. A betrayal of his marriage vows — absolutely. Every woman can attest to how dehumanizing it is to be sent an unsolicited dick pic.
But how surprised can you be if you’ve already sent a nude?
Again, to be clear, if he then proceeded to act without their consent, knowingly crossing boundaries that they were explicitly setting out, or even pursuing sexual contact when they were obviously incapacitated, that would be a crime.
But it is more difficult to make the case after the victim has willingly participated in a sexual encounter.
I suspect that’s why no one reported on these apparently well-known stories.
Because now it is in the interests of the Democrats, and the media, to sacrifice Swalwell.
The Democrats seem to have decided that their best shot at winning the race and beating the Republicans is consolidating their candidates, who are coming in at third, fourth, and fifth place.
Beyond politics, it seems like we have lost the ability to distinguish between immoral behavior — like being a married man hitting on a young woman — and criminal behavior, like assault and rape.
And that doesn’t just hurt men; it hurts women.
Because when we obscure the question of consent, we make it impossible, by definition, for women ever to consent at all.
Batya Ungar-Sargon is a weekend anchor and the host of “Batya!” on NewsNation. She writes at batyaus.substack.com
