Below is my column on Fox.com on the Swalwell scandal. His resignation from Congress was expected in light of the likely expulsion and criminal investigations awaiting him. The worst, however, may be yet to come.
Here is the column:
The resignation of Rep. Eric Swalwell (D., Cal.) came with one of the most spectacular falls in political history. Just days ago, Swalwell was the leading Democratic candidate for governor of California and positioned to be one of two final candidates (the other a Republican). He expected that, regardless of his unpopularity, California Democrats would never vote for a Republican.
Now Swalwell has pulled out of the race, pulled out of Congress, and was even tossed out of the home of a billionaire who had been letting him crash there during the scandal.
Swalwell continues to deny the allegations and pledges to fight them.
For the record, I have been one of Swalwell’s most vocal critics for the last ten years. Yet, while I am not surprised by the allegations, I am surprised by how quickly Swalwell was abandoned by his political patrons in Congress and the unions.
In Washington, Harry Truman advised politicians that if you want a friend in this city, get a dog. However, even Swalwell’s dog Penny has yet to appear in public with him. Presumably, she is consulting with her own canine crisis team.
Swalwell has spent his entire career protected by an enabling establishment and media. He was a made man in Washington, and those who made him protected him despite years of rumors and allegations of misconduct.
He was never much of a legislator. One 2025 study showed that he was outvoted in Congress by a colleague who had died months earlier. His value was his vicious signature. He was always first to a mob. When Sen. Susan Collins received death threats, it was Swalwell who mocked her. In running for governor, he not only pledged to arrest ICE agents but to deny them driver’s licenses and jobs. He trafficked in unadulterated rage to a nation of rage addicts.
His greatest patron was Nancy Pelosi, who single-handedly saved Swalwell’s career when he was found to have had an affair with an alleged Chinese spy. She told the media, “I don’t have any concern about Mr. Swalwell.” For most of the media, that was enough and they slinked away.
When critics sought to remove him from the classified House Intelligence Committee, Pelosi shocked many by insisting that he remain in the sensitive position, lashing out at those “trying to make an issue of this.”
Now, Pelosi and the media allies are gone. Even Swalwell’s friend, Sen. Ruben Gallego (D., Ariz.), has morphed into Claude Rains and proclaimed that he is “shocked” by the allegations. His former campaign chair, Gallego was shown in a picture bare-chested and riding camels with Swalwell on a luxury junket paid for by Qatar business interests.
The photo has not aged well for Gallego any more than his earlier lament that the Democratic party “used to be the party of sex, drugs, and rock and roll.”
The abandonment of Swalwell is a familiar move of political triage. By letting Swalwell succumb to the scandal, Pelosi and others hope to protect the establishment from any blowback after years of enabling his career. The media, as usual, is complying.
The media will cover a scandal involving a leading Democrat if there is no real alternative. What is interesting is how the Democratic establishment is now signaling that they want Swalwell destroyed — quickly and surgically.
The media is content calling Swalwell a monster without delving into who created and released that monster. Swalwell is no self-made man. He is a made man of the Democratic establishment.
The alleged victims have lashed out not only at Swalwell but also at many in the establishment. They allege that they were rebuffed when they tried to bring their allegations to reporters.
One independent reporter said that he had been raising similar allegations about Swalwell with California Democrats from before Swalwell was elected to Congress. He was also turned away.
Swalwell had a use and that made his “appetites” irrelevant. If even half of these allegations are true, it shows the sense of license that Swalwell developed for years in Washington.
He lost that political immunity this week and now faces real legal liability. That does not mean that Democrats will not try to control the damage. They want Swalwell to take a deal to avoid any investigations that will pull other Democrats into the vortex of the scandal.
They are counting on New York and California district attorneys to produce the type of controlled explosion seen in construction where a hotel is brought down without damaging the adjacent structures.
The problem is Republicans may not just accept his resignation as the final act. They could call the women to testify and even call some of his congressional friends who took trips and partied with him. They could cite Swalwell himself for demanding such total transparency.
Swalwell’s resignation may indicate that he is now fully briefed on what lies ahead. With a criminal investigation announced in New York and one expected in California, any competent defense counsel would advise Swalwell that he needs to jettison every extraneous concern from his career to his office to his law license. Swalwell needs to fight for his liberty if these women are prepared to give statements not just to the media but to the police.
In both New York and California, the statute of limitations for rape and sexual assault were removed. The published allegations, from raping intoxicated women to leaving victims bruised and bleeding, would likely satisfy those statutes if established by the police.
Swalwell, ironically, will now join Hunter Biden as a political refugee. (Swalwell supported in his public defiance of a congressional subpoena). Like Hunter, Swalwell lost any influence and ability to make money when he fell out of power. Hunter is now reportedly millions in debt and remaining in South Africa.
Swalwell may have to burn through his wealth in fending off these criminal investigations in multiple jurisdictions. If any of the allegations are proven, he will likely lose his bar license and ability to support himself as a lawyer.
In the end, this is no morality tale because there are no more moral figures from Swalwell to those who created or protected him. It is a Washington tale where morality, like villainy, is measured by your proximity to power.
Jonathan Turley is a law professor and the best-selling author of “Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.”
Not withstanding all the aforementioned, he was the lead Democrat figure in the campaign for the Governorship. Therefore, do not send to know who was elected. Rather send to know who voted. The manifestation of low expectations for the intelligence of the low information voter in effect at all times. Therein lies the rub….and always will.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy…..haha
Releasing the files must have portended major damage to the DNC with midterms approaching for this all to have happened within the space of a week. I’m sure he’s one in a box full of dominos; hopefully there’s a cascade.
Just the sound of his last name has an ick factor baked into it.
Yet Trump and Hegseth engage in the same behavior and the hypocritical republicans continue to defend them.
O RLY?
How many subordinates have Trump and Hegseth slept with:
1. Since they assumed their respective offices?
2. Ever?
How many women total, since
1. Trump became President?
2. Hegseth became Secy of War?
No, Swalwell’s comparables are not Hegseth and Trump, but fellow Congressional sinners like Conyers and Biden.
This wimp said everything that Pelosi wanted him to say. It has been said that his dalliances were common knowledge among Democrats but even knowing this they did everything they could to elevate him to a superstar of the Democratic party. But Trump said a bad word.
The threat that Swalwell’s past potential criminal behavior in NYC will be investigated by the Manhattan DA was more likely than not arranged by Democrat “leadership” to facilitate Swalwell’s prompt suspension of his gubernatorial campaign and resignation from Congress so as to not have this scandal fester for the Democrats. Watch. After his resignations the NYC criminal investigation will ultimately go nowhere when the the women involved refuse to testify. However, somehow it is the enablers of Swalwell’s behavior that should be investigated and publicly shamed. I would start with Swalwell’s “best friend”, Sen. Ruben Gallego.
Eric Swalwell and the Fall of a Another Democratic Liberal Scumbag
Pelosi had to protect Swalwell and Fang Fang years ago because, across the Hill, Dianne Feinstein’s chauffeur of 20 years’ duration, I mean her HANDLER, was a Communist Chinese spy… Curiously, all the while, Feinstein’s husband was making millions of dollars on government contracts and other business undertaken in, um, China (and Iraq, Afghanistan, FDIC, and wherever her influence might take him. So pulling up one ugly weed in the garden would have dislodged any number of others along the way.
Does the CCP play any role in this sudden and complete collapse? Did they play any role in building him up and protecting him?
Swalwell was taken out by Democrats, when they deemed him to be a liability in their quest for power in California. Powerful Democrats in Congress and in the media knew for years what Swalwell was doing, and provided cover for him. This was the political equivalent of a mafia hit. Swalwell got whacked by his own family so they can push the abusive Porter for governor.
A trade of one abuser for another. It’s the Democratic way.
To avoid scandals, keep your dick in your pants. It’s that easy.
is that from personal experience?
LOL! It’s not just the men in Congress that have been caught with their pants down, Congresswomen have also been caught with their pants down or skirts up.
House Votes 357–65 to Keep Congressional Sexual Harassment Records Sealed in Rare Bipartisan Move
Don’t sleep with your staff. Swalwell isn’t the only one to have done this.
It’s usually the dick that gets them in trouble. Consider: this Swalwell guy has reportedly been cashing in retirement and pension accounts. He’s reportedly used $60,000 in campaign donations over the years to pay child care expenses.
For some reason, he’s having a hard time making ends meet on a Congressional salary. They pay themselves close to $200K a year. That puts him in the top 5% of earners.
I wonder if more poo – related to financial issues – may be about to hit the fan. I also wonder if he plans to go down alone, or if he’s going to try to take some of the Democrats who turned on him down with him.
Some of that campaign cash was used to hire an illegal Brazilian to be a Nanny to his kids too. I feel sorry for his kids. I can’t believe his wife didn’t have any indication of his depravity though.
I must admit I am shocked by Mr Swallwell’s meteoric fall from grace. I certainly thought this might have weeks to run and actual filed charges would need to appear before he resigned. Never, ever thought it would be this fast.
I agree that a long line of injured women should be invited to the House of Representatives for a show investigation and trial so that justice, at least in some small measure, might be obtained.
A Democratic candidate has not fallen this fast since Joe Biden disappeared from the campaign trail in 2024.
I thought Meteor Crater in Arizona was large but Swallwell’s political impact crater seems to have had ramifications from Sacramento to Washington D.C.
He toast!
Ever dawn on you that not all is as it appears?
Before any of the Swalwell nonsense hit the internet (found items from 2 years ago) it was well known in political and news circles, then the dems packaged it and used it as a weapon. For what purpose, still no one knows.
Nobody cared until he was in the Party’s way.
What I do know Ano
Mrs P just threw him under the bus. Yeah that means something.
Plus the video of him doesn’t help.
GEB,
Before the story actually broke, Democrats were already abandoning Swalwell and even a Democrat noted the speed in which the Democrat machine and the media turned on him. The moment he was no longer useful to the party or even a liability they dumped him.
I agree the Swalwell victims should be given the opportunity to testify if they so choose for some degree of justice. They deserve that.
For me, the question isn’t mainly what Swalwell did or didn’t do. I want to know more about the machine that lifted him up and kept him up. That machine is not just Democrat or Republican. Versions of it run across the whole political spectrum. In every era and party you find a network of insiders, donors, staffers, consultants, media allies, and power brokers whose job is to manage who gets power, how long they keep it, and how to protect the brand when something blows up.
People talk like this is some shocking new development, but it’s the first real “innovation” that shows up anywhere power gets concentrated. You can see it in old urban political machines like Tammany Hall, and you can see its descendants today in money‑driven donor networks, PACs, and permanent consultant class operations. They work behind the scenes, they decide who is viable, they decide who gets covered and who gets buried, and when a person becomes a liability, they cut them loose to save the structure.
When I talk about the “regime within,” this is what I mean: not just elected officials, but the standing machine that actually manages power.
“When I talk about the “regime within,”’. Did we miss that? When? Or were you talking to yourself in a mirror?
I’ll tell why conservative news is kicking butt: Gabriella Power
Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. But give him a couple of years and the Dem party will re-brand him as a recovering sex addict running for another political office.
It looks like the Democratic Crime Family had a “sit down” and decided “Eric the Red” had to go. But just suppose now that he decides to write a tell-all book about his bosses? That might be risky.
Naaa. He will go to work for CNN.
He might have to write it from a labor prison in upstate NY.
LOL… CNN wouldn’t care.
It is absolutely shocking how deep and pervasive the corruption runs in our honor less Congress. How is it that time & time again these “animals” run freely, with no fear of punishment, protected by their colleagues (Pelosi)! We need to literally clean the whole house. Bukele had the right idea! Chop off all of their heads! Is their one pure soul left anywhere in our government!
No.
POWER over others until someone with cojones stands up.
Hillbilly knows something about lashing out at accusers. She defended that measly little pansy every time the vast right wing conspiracy turned loose his legion of victims.
Got to love these fools. I’d like to see his talking-head enemies handle Iran. His plays them like a fiddle. One of his haters just announced that even Hitler never claimed he was going to destroy an entire civilization. (Iran ran to the negotiating table as a result of Trumps blowhard claim.) They are so dumb. Truly. Such idiots. They believe the world is a safe place and if only the U.S. would straighten up, the snakes would fall in line.
Did a woke ever face nasty peers in high school? They have no idea Trump toys with them and our enemies to get results he wants.
Ano
Hitler never claimed he was going to destroy an entire civilization.
_____________________________
Right, but Hitler did try to build a nuke.
Sure he did dustoff, and you saw it all and have the plans still.
Ever read history. I guess not.
Hitler did try to destroy an entire civilization (the Jewish one), and he wanted a nuke, but his nuke program didn’t know what they were doing, possibly because some of the scientists didn’t want it to succeed.
Heisenberg wanted the bomb and was in competition with Western scientists.
DustOff,
Ever read the book, The Winter Fortress by Neal Bascomb? Great book about Hitler’s quest to build a nuclear bomb and what the allies did to sabotage it.
I did Upstate.
I guess Ano hasn’t.
Hitler did set out to destroy an entire civilization. Hitler murdered about 6 million Jewish people in the Holocaust, of those were about 1.5 million children. The Nazis also murdered Roma “Gypsies” German-speaking areas and Western Europe, and Sinti “Gypsies” who lived in in Eastern/Central Europe, the disabled, Poles, Jehovah’s Witnesses, gay people, and Soviet prisoners of war. Hitler’s ambitions were quite similar to Iran’s.
https://hmh.org/about/25-facts-about-holocaust/
I’m Gary Hart and I approve of this message. No Monkey Business here…
Quote of the day! Love the Monkey Business line, wasn’t that the name of the yacht
Hmmm
https://megayachtnews.com/2018/10/yacht-monkey-business-the-front-runner-movie/