{"id":193592,"date":"2026-04-11T19:20:41","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T19:20:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/193592\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T19:20:41","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T19:20:41","slug":"swalwell-denies-sexual-assault-allegations-as-manhattan-da-opens-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/193592\/","title":{"rendered":"Swalwell denies sexual assault allegations as Manhattan DA opens probe"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a brief video (opens in new tab)<\/a> posted across his social media accounts on Friday night, embattled California gubernatorial candidate Rep. Eric Swalwell said that the \u201callegations of sexual assault are flat false, they are absolutely false.\u201d<\/p>\n

The message came several hours after both the San Francisco Chronicle (opens in new tab)<\/a> and CNN (opens in new tab)<\/a> published accounts<\/a> of one alleged instance of rape and other nonconsensual sexual activity involving at least four women.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

\u201cThey did not happen, they have never happened,\u201d Swalwell, a Democrat who represents a large portion of the East Bay, said. \u201cAnd I will fight them with everything that I have.\u201d<\/p>\n

CNN also reported (opens in new tab)<\/a> Saturday that the Manhattan District Attorney\u2019s office has opened an investigation into the allegation as one of the reported incidents allegedly took place in a Manhattan hotel room in 2024. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe urge survivors and anyone with knowledge of these allegations to contact our Special Victims Division at 212-335-9373,\u201d emailed Danielle Filson, a spokesperson. \u201cOur specially trained prosecutors, investigators, and counselors are well-equipped to help you in a trauma-informed, survivor-centered manner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other incidents may have occurred in the East Bay, according to the Chronicle\u2019s reporting. Similarly, the Alameda County District Attorney\u2019s office did not respond on Saturday morning to a request for comment from The Standard.<\/p>\n

Shortly after Swalwell\u2019s Friday video was published, his attorney, Elias Dabaie, appeared on CNN (opens in new tab)<\/a> to say that \u201cthe congressman takes accountability for potential lapses in judgment but categorically denies any wrongdoing,\u201d and added that \u201clooking at the facts, I do have to question the credibility of these allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n

These reports have completely upended<\/a> this year\u2019s race for California governor. Until this week, Swalwell had been the top Democratic candidate, according to recent polling data (opens in new tab)<\/a> from the Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies. <\/p>\n

California voters are set to go to the polls on June 2 in a primary election. Per state rules, whoever finishes in the top two positions, regardless of party affiliation, will go on to the general election in November. <\/p>\n

According to that same poll, the two Republican candidates, Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, are ahead. But 16% of respondents also said they were undecided \u2013 the same percentage of those who said they would vote for Hilton and Bianco. <\/p>\n

California has not elected a Republican governor since Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected in 2003 and re-elected in 2006.<\/p>\n

In his video, Swalwell noted the timing of the claims against him.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The allegations] also come on the eve of an election where I have been the frontrunner candidate for governor in California,\u201d he continued. <\/p>\n

\u201cI do not suggest to you in any way that I am perfect or that I am a saint. I have certainly made mistakes in judgement in my past. But those mistakes are between me and my wife. To her I apologize deeply for putting her in this position. I also apologize to you if in any way you have doubted your support for me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Swalwell concluded the video by saying that he would be spending the weekend with \u201cfamily and friends,\u201d and said he looked forward to updating the public \u201cvery soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many prominent Democrats and other local entities have already spoken out against him or withdrawn their support<\/a>. On Swalwell\u2019s own campaign website, the entire endorsements page has already been deleted (opens in new tab)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, San Francisco Firefighters Local 798 also yanked its endorsement, saying that the new allegations against Swalwell \u201ccannot be ignored.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe accountability and integrity are non-negotiable, and we will be reassessing the race moving forward,\u201d President Sam Gebler wrote in a statement sent to The Standard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a brief video (opens in new tab) posted across his social media accounts on Friday night, embattled…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193593,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[77304,22680,75,84,83,9,24,63,3019],"class_list":{"0":"post-193592","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manhattan","8":"tag-ca-governor","9":"tag-eric-swalwell","10":"tag-manhattan","11":"tag-manhattan-headlines","12":"tag-manhattan-news","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-nyc","16":"tag-sexual-assault"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}