The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has opened a criminal investigation into a sexual assault allegation against Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., adding a formal law-enforcement dimension to a scandal that has unraveled the congressman's gubernatorial campaign in a matter of days. NBC News confirmed the probe Saturday, just as Swalwell's own senior staff publicly broke with him and Democratic leaders demanded he abandon his bid for governor.
The investigation centers on an allegation involving a former staffer who told CNN that Swalwell assaulted her in a New York City hotel room in April 2024 after a charity gala. She said she was intoxicated and told him to stop. The New York Post reported the woman told CNN directly:
"I was pushing him off of me, saying no. He didn't stop."
Swalwell has flatly denied every allegation. In a video posted to X on Friday, he said:
"These allegations of sexual assault are flat false. They're absolutely false. They did not happen. They have never happened, and I will fight them with everything that I have."
His office and campaign did not respond to NBC News requests for comment on the Manhattan DA's investigation or on the account of another woman who spoke publicly about her experience with the congressman.
The dam broke Friday when the San Francisco Chronicle reported that one woman said she had sexual encounters with Swalwell when he was her boss and alleged he twice sexually assaulted her when she was too intoxicated to consent. One of those alleged incidents took place in New York in 2024, the same city where the DA's office now has jurisdiction to investigate.
Later Friday, CNN published allegations from three additional women. Two of them told CNN that the congressman sent them unsolicited photos or videos of his genitals. In total, four women have now come forward with sexual misconduct allegations against Swalwell in the span of roughly two days.
One of those women, Ally Sammarco, spoke separately to NBC News. Sammarco said she was 24 years old and trying to find a job on Capitol Hill when she first met Swalwell. She said he invited her to his Washington, D.C., office to "meet the team," and that the visit seemed "pretty normal" at first.
But she said the congressman later communicated with her through Snapchat and sent a photo of his penis that was "totally unsolicited." She also said he went for jogs in her neighborhood and asked her to come downstairs to chat. NBC News noted it had not independently corroborated the other women's stories.
Sammarco told NBC News she had believed she was alone in her experience, until this week's reports:
"I thought I was the only one that had this experience with him. These people have authority, and they're abusing it... I want to validate what these women are saying, and I feel like he needs a public reckoning in some way, or he's just going to continue doing this."
The political fallout has been swift and bipartisan, but the speed with which Swalwell's own party turned on him stands out. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar issued a joint statement Friday calling the allegations "disturbing" and urging Swalwell to "immediately end his campaign to be California's next Governor."
That statement stopped short of calling for his resignation from Congress. But two California Democrats went further. Rep. Jared Huffman wrote on X Saturday that he had "seen enough" and said that if Swalwell does not resign, he would support a vote to expel him from the House.
Rep. Sam Liccardo, also a California Democrat, was even more direct. He wrote on X Friday:
"Swalwell must halt his campaign, resign from office, and face the consequences of a full investigation. Democrats must not equivocate in the face of uncomfortable allegations about one of our own."
Liccardo also wrote that "courageous survivors deserve to [be] heard fully, not threatened with cease-and-desist letters from their assailant", a pointed reference suggesting Swalwell or his representatives attempted legal pressure against at least one accuser.
The California Federation of Labor Unions and SEIU California both rescinded their endorsements of Swalwell. Fox News reported that Swalwell lost all Democratic endorsements within 24 hours of the allegations becoming public, a staggering collapse of institutional support for a sitting congressman running a statewide campaign.
Perhaps the most remarkable development came Saturday, when Swalwell's senior staff, the people who work for him every day in his congressional office and on his gubernatorial campaign, issued a public statement distancing themselves from the man who signs their paychecks. They said they were "horrified" by the allegations and that they "stand with our former colleague, and the other women who have come forward."
The statement included a careful legal hedge:
"Any decision of staff members to remain in their roles in the interim should not be viewed as support for Eric Swalwell. We, more than he, understand that we have obligations to the people we lead and to the constituents of California's 14th Congressional District. Those of us that remain on staff do so for the sole purpose of ensuring that as many of those obligations are fulfilled as possible."
Read that again. His own staff felt compelled to tell the public that showing up to work should not be interpreted as standing behind their boss. That is not a vote of confidence. It is a resignation letter written in the conditional tense.
On the Republican side, two congresswomen moved quickly. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., said in a post on X that she plans to force a floor vote this week on a resolution to censure Swalwell. A censure resolution requires only a simple majority to pass. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., announced she would introduce a resolution to expel Swalwell, a far steeper bar, requiring two-thirds of the chamber.
Rep. Mark Harris echoed the calls for Swalwell to step down. Harris told Newsmax the allegations are "serious, serious" and said it would be "in the best interest of everyone for Eric Swalwell to simply step down and resign." Harris also pointed to what he described as a double standard, noting Swalwell's own prior public stance during the Kavanaugh hearings that accusers should be believed.
That point deserves emphasis. Swalwell built a media brand during the Kavanaugh confirmation fight by insisting that allegations of sexual misconduct should be treated as credible on their face. Now, facing his own accusers, he has called the claims "flat false" and, if Liccardo's reference to cease-and-desist letters is accurate, may have used legal threats against at least one woman who came forward.
A spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office urged anyone with information to reach out. The Washington Examiner reported the office's statement:
"We urge survivors and anyone with knowledge of these allegations to contact our Special Victims Division at 212-335-9373. Our specially trained prosecutors, investigators, and counselors are well-equipped to help you in a trauma-informed, survivor-centered manner."
That language, publicly inviting additional witnesses and survivors to contact prosecutors, signals the DA's office views this as more than a single isolated complaint. No charging documents or case numbers have been made public.
The timing could hardly be worse for Democrats in California. Swalwell entered a crowded primary field for governor that includes former Rep. Katie Porter, businessman Tom Steyer, and former U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra, with voters set to begin casting ballots soon. The scandal now threatens to overshadow the entire Democratic slate at a moment when polling experts have already warned Democrats face a real risk of an all-GOP runoff in the governor's race.
Swalwell is no stranger to controversy. His past entanglement with a suspected Chinese intelligence operative drew national attention and remains a subject of ongoing scrutiny, FBI Director Kash Patel recently moved to declassify files related to that matter. Now, with a criminal investigation open in Manhattan, endorsements evaporating, his own staff publicly distancing themselves, and members of both parties calling for his resignation, the congressman's political future looks increasingly untenable.
Several open questions remain. NBC News has not independently corroborated all of the women's accounts. Swalwell has not been charged with any crime. The investigation is in its early stages, and the congressman is entitled to the presumption of innocence in any legal proceeding.
But the political facts are already settled. California's governor's race just lost a Democratic contender in every way that matters, even if Swalwell hasn't admitted it yet.
The party that spent years lecturing the country about believing women now has a test case of its own. So far, the results are mixed: leadership asked Swalwell to quit the race but not his seat. Two rank-and-file Democrats went further. And the congressman himself is still drawing a government paycheck while a prosecutor's office asks the public for more witnesses.