“I am suspending my campaign for Governor,” Rep. Eric Swalwell of California wrote on X Sunday. “To my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past.”
That was followed by a Monday announcement that he was resigning from Congress altogether, a stunning turn of events as multiple sexual assault accusations felled his once-promising bid to lead the Golden State.
But while the state of California’s gubernatorial race is up in the air, there’s still a bit of whiplash from how Swalwell’s political career went from what appeared to be an upward trajectory to a conceded pile of ash in a matter of days.
Here’s some help understanding how it all went down, for those of you who managed to stay remotely offline and need a recap.
This all started on Friday when—within hours of each other—both the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN released exclusive stories detailing claims that Swalwell, a married father of three, had assaulted women.
Four women claimed that Swalwell sent sexually explicit images to them via Snapchat, a messaging service where images and messages are automatically deleted after a certain period of time.
Some of these relationships began through Swalwell reaching out via social media.
One former staffer alleged that Swalwell raped her in 2024 after a night of drinking. Recalling the night, she said was “heavily toxicated,” physically injured, and repeatedly told him to stop.
The assault reportedly left her with bruises, cuts, and bleeding to her body.
In another instance while working for Swalwell, the woman claims she woke up from a night of drinking in 2019 naked in a hotel room with the congressman. According to the outlet, she has no memory of the night’s events, but could feel physically that something happened.
On Saturday, a day after the news reports broke, prosecutors in New York City launched a criminal investigation.
Related | Rep. Eric Swalwell says he will resign from Congress after sexual assault allegations
Similarly, the House Ethics Committee announced Monday that it had opened an investigation into the congressman “with respect to allegations that he may have engaged in sexual misconduct, including towards an employee working under his supervision.”
Almost immediately, the California native’s campaign crew began thinning out. Staffers dropped out en masse and top institutions and political groups pulled their endorsements.
Lawmakers who were previous allies called for Swalwell to be investigated. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, who will make her exit from her long-held seat this year, was one of them.
“This extremely sensitive matter must be appropriately investigated with full transparency and accountability,” she said in a statement obtained by Politico. “As I discussed with Congressman Swalwell, it is clear that is best done outside of a gubernatorial campaign.”
But in a curveball moment, a day after the stories hit the newsstands and home pages, what appeared to be damning videos of Swalwell began circulating as well.
On Saturday, former pharma bro Martin Shkreli—yes, that Martin Shkreli—tweeted what may or may not be a real video of the congressman kissing a young woman in a hotel room. Soon after, a second video was released from the same night.
In a very 2026 dilemma, it’s unclear whether or not this video is genuine or if it was generated by artificial intelligence. Swalwell has not spoken to the legitimacy of the footage.
In the comments, Shkreli says that he “knows the photographer” in a bid to push back against AI claims, but it’s still unclear if the content is legitimate.
Regardless of the video’s origins, Swalwell is facing a mountain of accusations and damage control. And as California’s jungle primary quickly approaches with Swalwell’s name still on the ballot, the full repercussions of the East Bay lawmaker’s sordid actions remain to be seen.
Alix Breeden April 13, 2026 at 11:30PM From Daily Kos
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