Greater than a dozen women have come forward with misconduct allegations against former California Representative Eric Swalwell following his resignation from Congress.
Quite a few women spoke to CNN about alleged interactions — each in-person and via social media — where the married former congressman, 45, made them feel uncomfortable. Some accused Swalwell of exhibiting “Jekyll and Hyde” behavior, where he publicly championed victims of abuse while sometimes acting inappropriately behind the scenes.
These latest allegations date back to Swalwell’s college years at Campbell University in North Carolina, where he once published a poem where he bragged, “She chased and I ran/ I chased and he or she ran / My anxious arm she bit – my scar is gorgeous/ While I screamed/ She bent her lips to mine.”
“[Swalwell] categorically denies being crude toward women during his college years nearly three a long time ago,” his attorney told CNN. “[The poem] is plainly a teenage metaphor about drinking — not sex.”
Swalwell’s alleged troubling behavior continued into his early political profession where he reportedly held congressional meetings at a Hooters restaurant in 2012. (His attorney told CNN that Swalwell’s decision to “occasionally [take] a gathering at an off-the-cuff chain restaurant” was not newsworthy.)
Multiple women alleged that Swalwell used Snapchat to send them overly flirty messages through the years although he was married. (Swalwell has been married to his wife, Brittany Watts, since 2016 they usually share three children.)
Heather Purcell told the outlet that Swalwell “checked out [her] up and down in a way that made [her] feel uneasy” and touched her shoulder after they met on the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Swalwell allegedly gave Purcell his personal phone number once they reconnected months later. (Purcell said that she never called Swalwell they usually never interacted again.)
“[I had] a gut feeling that the facility dynamic didn’t feel right to me — that he was just trying to have interaction in a private relationship when it must have been skilled,” Purcell said.
Swalwell’s lawyer described the politician’s interactions with Purcell as “routine and non-contentious.”
An unnamed woman alleged that Swalwell once took her bag during a non-public meeting at a bar and walked to an elevator, seemingly to persuade her to come back to his hotel room. The lady recalled riding with Swalwell to his floor before snatching her bag back.
“I said, ‘How dare you disrespect me like that,’” the girl said. “When the elevator was closing, he stood there with a glance of shock on his face. … If it was anyone else, I’d be screaming and calling security. But that is someone I do know professionally, and he’s a congressman.”
Swalwell’s lawyer called the allegations “flat out false.”
Eric Swalwell in October 2025. Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for the Songwriters of North America (SONA) Warrior Awards
An unnamed former staffer for an additional congressional representative told CNN that she had a consensual sexual relationship with Swalwell over the course of several years, where they allegedly met multiple times at hotels for sex. Per the staffer, they exchanged explicit videos and photos throughout their consensual relationship.
“His stories can be his, like, congressional content, but then he can be sending me d*** pics,” she recalled.
Swalwell’s lawyer told the outlet, “There was no supervisory or skilled relationship and, accordingly, no power imbalance.”
Washington D.C. real estate agent Sanam Vivansia said she exchanged flirty messages with Swalwell after meeting in 2021 and he later asked her to come back back to his hotel room after they later met in person in San Francisco. Vivansia allegedly sent Swalwell a text message complaining that he’d “made [her] feel really uncomfortable,” though he replied that her version of events “just isn’t what happened.” (Swalwell’s attorney denied that the representative acted inappropriately.)
His lawyer also reacted more broadly to accusations that Swalwell had inappropriate interactions with women through the years.
Swalwell’s attorney told CNN, “Swalwell categorically and unequivocally denies each allegation of sexual misconduct and assault that has been leveled against him.”
The lawyer described any interactions that Swalwell did have as “routine and skilled,” but acknowledged that he “had extramarital contact with women.”
“He’s not denying that,” the attorney said. “But that’s very different than engaging in nonconsensual sexual misconduct.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Swalwell over these allegations.
The husband of one in all the ladies who’ve accused Rep. Eric Swalwell of sexual assault and harassment has responded to the congressman’s video denying the allegations. “My wife’s name is Ally Sammarco. Obviously you understand that, but she’s not named anonymous,” Adam Parkhomenko, a Democratic strategist and former DNC National Field Director, wrote via […]
Multiple women got here forward with sexual misconduct allegations against Swalwell in April. A former staffer at his Castro Valley, California, district office told the San Francisco Chronicle that the politician Swalwell once propositioned her for oral sex and later invited her out for a drink, where she later “blacked out” and allegedly woke up naked in Swalwell’s hotel bed, at which era she allegedly felt that he’d initiated vaginal intercourse.
Content creator Ally Sammarco alleged that Swalwell offered to “share her resume” together with his contacts before sending her “very inappropriate” Snapchat messages. Other women who made misconduct allegations on the time selected to remain anonymous out of fear of retribution.
Swalwell was a frontrunner within the California gubernatorial race when the scandal broke out. The congressman’s initial response to the controversy was to say that “the allegations of sexual assault are flat false” on April 11.
“They’re absolutely false. They didn’t occur. They’ve never happened. And I’ll fight them with every little thing I actually have,” Swalwell said in a press release on the time. “Additionally they come on the eve of an election, where I actually have been the frontrunner candidate for governor of California.”
He went on, “I don’t suggest to you in any way that I’m perfect or that I’m a saint — I actually have actually made mistakes in judgment in my past, but those mistakes are between me and my wife. And to her, I apologize deeply for putting her on this position.”
Swalwell eventually suspended his gubernatorial run on April 12 before resigning from Congress amid threats of an expulsion vote within the House of Representatives.
“I’m deeply sorry to my family, staff and constituents for mistakes in judgement I’ve made in my past,” Swalwell announced in a press release shared via X on April 13. “I’ll fight the intense, false allegation made against me. Nevertheless, I need to take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make.”
The California representative went on, “I’m aware of efforts to bring a direct expulsion vote against me and other members. Expelling anyone in Congress without due process, inside days of an allegation being made, is mistaken. Nevertheless it’s also mistaken for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties. Subsequently I plan to resign my seat in Congress. I’ll work with my staff in the approaching days to be sure that they’re able, in my absence, to serve the needs of the great people of the 14th congressional district.”
When you or someone you understand has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).