Eric Swalwell, candidate for Cali governor, denies sexual assault allegations

U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat and a leading candidate for governor of the state, on Friday flatly denied accusations of sexual assault by a former congressional staffer as "absolutely false."



He vowed to fight the allegations in a post on X, while apologizing to his wife for unspecified "mistakes in judgment in my past."



Several leading Democratic politicians responded to the accounts of sexual assault by urging Swalwell to end his campaign for governor. Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the Democrats in the House, called for an investigation.



The San Francisco Chronicle reported on Friday that a woman who previously worked in Swalwell's district office accused him of two nonconsensual sexual encounters, one while she was employed by him in 2019 and another in 2024 after she had left his staff.



The woman, whom the newspaper did not name, was quoted as saying she had been too intoxicated on both occasions to consent, according to the report.

The former staffer later told CNN that Swalwell had raped her during the later encounter, which Swalwell strongly denied.