Federal agents executed multiple search warrants against former California Congressman Eric Swalwell over the weekend, seizing electronic devices as part of a criminal investigation connected to sexual misconduct allegations that have already ended the Democrat’s political career. The development marks a dramatic new chapter for a lawmaker who, just months ago, was considered a frontrunner in the California governor’s race.
According to court records, FBI agents served Swalwell with a search warrant on August 15 at 8:25 in the evening after he landed at San Francisco International Airport. Agents seized his iPhone, his MacBook Pro laptop, a charging cable, and a wall adapter. A second warrant was executed the following day at Swalwell’s residence in Washington, D.C., where agents spent hours inside the home and removed additional electronic devices and boxes of potential evidence.
The searches represent a significant escalation in a case that has been simmering for months. Swalwell resigned from Congress in April after multiple women came forward accusing him of sexual misconduct, including allegations of sexual assault. He had been the presumed frontrunner in the race for California governor before those allegations forced him to suspend his campaign just one day before his resignation.
Among the accusers is a former Swalwell staffer named Lonna Drewes, who has publicly said Swalwell raped her in 2018 and that she believes he drugged her drink before the incident occurred, at a hotel in New York following a political event. Drewes is one of at least six women who have leveled allegations of sexual misconduct against Swalwell. Two other women have said he sent them unsolicited explicit photographs, and another accuser has alleged he assaulted her while she was too intoxicated to consent.
The House Ethics Committee opened a review into the allegations shortly after they surfaced. Separately, both the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department launched their own investigations following extensive reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN. The federal probe now underway appears to be the broadest of these efforts, with investigators reportedly interviewing multiple accusers and building out a detailed picture of Swalwell’s conduct and communications across several jurisdictions.
Legal experts have raised eyebrows at the FBI’s direct involvement in a matter that, on its face, resembles the kind of case typically handled at the state or local level. Andrew McCabe, the former FBI deputy director, called the bureau’s involvement a significant development but acknowledged it was not immediately clear why the FBI, rather than local law enforcement, had stepped into an investigation centered on sexual misconduct allegations.
That uncertainty deepened further when reports emerged regarding the specific federal statute cited in the warrant. According to reporting on the sealed warrant materials, investigators are examining Swalwell’s conduct under 18 U.S.C. Section 242, a civil rights statute that criminalizes the deprivation of rights under color of law. Legal analysts note the statute has historically been used in cases where officials abuse the power of their position, including a notable case involving a former Connecticut mayor convicted for using his office and police connections to intimidate victims into silence. To be clear, no formal accusation along those lines has been made against Swalwell, but the choice of statute raises serious questions about what investigators believe they may find.
Whatever the outcome, the optics here are difficult to ignore. This is a lawmaker who spent years positioning himself as a leading voice on cable news, frequently lecturing Republicans about accountability and the rule of law. Swalwell was a fixture in impeachment proceedings against President Trump and was among the loudest voices demanding scrutiny of the president’s conduct. Now Swalwell himself finds his personal conduct under a level of federal scrutiny that most Americans will never experience.
It is also worth revisiting Swalwell’s own history with sensitive national security matters. Years before these allegations surfaced, Swalwell was at the center of controversy over his past association with Christine Fang, a woman identified by federal investigators as a suspected Chinese intelligence operative. Declassified records released by the White House Government Transparency Task Force this week confirmed details from two FBI interviews in which Swalwell acknowledged having a physical relationship with Fang on several occasions back in 2015.
Fang reportedly helped raise campaign funds for Swalwell’s 2014 reelection bid and had even placed an intern inside his congressional office. Swalwell has said he cut ties with Fang in 2015 once federal agents raised concerns about her background, and no charges were ever brought against him in connection with that matter. Still, the resurfacing of these details, driven in part by FBI Director Kash Patel’s push to release the closed investigation’s files, adds another layer of scrutiny to a lawmaker whose judgment has repeatedly come into question.
Swalwell has firmly denied the sexual misconduct allegations against him. In his resignation statement, he expressed that he was deeply sorry to his family, staff, and constituents, while insisting he would fight what he called a serious, false allegation. He also criticized efforts by his former colleagues to expedite an expulsion vote against him, arguing that removing a member of Congress without due process within days of an allegation being made would set a troubling precedent.
To date, Swalwell has not been charged with any crime. It bears repeating that the execution of a search warrant does not equate to guilt, and Swalwell, like any American, is entitled to due process as these overlapping investigations continue. But it is equally true, as one legal analyst noted, that securing a federal search warrant requires convincing a judge there is probable cause to believe evidence of a crime exists on the devices or at the property in question. That is a meaningfully higher bar than a mere allegation, and it signals that this investigation has moved well beyond the preliminary stage.
An attorney representing one of Swalwell’s accusers said the news was an encouraging sign that federal authorities are escalating their involvement, and pledged continued cooperation with any law enforcement agency pursuing the matter.
The warrant application and supporting affidavit remain under seal, meaning many of the specific details behind the FBI’s decision to act remain unknown to the public for now. It is unclear at this time whether any additional charges, federal or otherwise, will ultimately be filed.
What is clear is that Swalwell’s fall from political prominence has been swift and steep. Just months ago, he was one of the most recognizable Democrats in the country, a seven-term congressman who briefly ran for president in 2020 and was widely seen as a likely governor of the nation’s most populous state. Today, he is a private citizen facing the prospect of federal charges, multiple state-level investigations, and a swirl of allegations that have already ended his career in public office.
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