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Negative national headlines continue to hound former Tri-Valley congressman Eric Swalwell.
News broke Thursday from the Daily Mail, CNN and other outlets that the one-time Democratic star was hit with search warrants at San Francisco International Airport for his personal devices and then at his home in Washington, D.C., over the weekend as part of a federal investigation into sexual assault allegations.
Swalwell, who could not be reached for comment and has not spoken publicly this week, denied allegations of sexual crimes but acknowledged unspecified mistakes in judgment in statements in April when the misconduct scandal first broke. Reporting from the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN revealed four women accused Swalwell of sexual abuse, including one former staffer who alleged he raped her.
Within days, the seven-term congressman ended his ascending campaign for governor of California and resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served parts of the East Bay after first winning election in 2012 to jump from the Dublin City Council to the District of Columbia.
A former media darling while in Congress, Swalwell found himself back in the headlines earlier this week too when the White House declassified documents from the FBI’s decade-old probe into his relationship with a former campaign supporter later accused of being a spy for China. The investigation concluded Swalwell had a sexual relationship with Christine Fang – also known as Fang Fang – but found no evidence of quid pro quo or crimes by the politician.
