{"id":47382,"date":"2025-11-21T15:13:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T15:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/47382\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T15:13:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T15:13:07","slug":"eric-swalwell-announces-run-for-california-governor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/47382\/","title":{"rendered":"Eric Swalwell announces run for California governor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) announced Thursday night that he will join the crowded race to replace Golden State Gov. Gavin Newsom next\u00a0year \u2014 eight days after he was hit\u00a0with a federal criminal referral<\/a>\u00a0for alleged mortgage and tax fraud.<\/p>\n

Swalwell, 45, announced his gubernatorial bid during an appearance on ABC late-night show \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d He has represented a Bay Area district in the House of Representatives since 2013, but has gained prominence as a critic of President Trump.<\/p>\n

The congressman, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020,\u00a0told the San Francisco Chronicle<\/a>\u00a0ahead of his announcement that the next California governor should have two priorities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Swalwell announces his candidacy on \u201cJimmy Kimmel Live!\u201d on Nov. 20, 2025. @jimmykimmellive\/Instagram<\/p>\n

\u201cOne, keep Trump out of our homes, streets and lives,\u201d said Swalwell, adding that the second is to \u201cwrite the story of a new California on lower prices, on business growth and modernizing the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Nov. 12, federal housing regulator Bill Pulte requested that Attorney General Pam Bondi investigate Swalwell for purported false statements surrounding his purchase of a $1.2 million Washington, DC home that he claimed as a primary residence.<\/p>\n

A source familiar with the referral told The Post that the Democrat\u00a0secured millions of dollars\u2019 worth of loans and refinancing based on that declaration \u2014 which could constitute mortgage fraud, insurance fraud and state and local tax fraud, among other charges.<\/p>\n

Swalwell, who has denied wrongdoing, is the fourth prominent official to be the subject of a criminal referral by Pulte, joining\u00a0Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), New York Attorney General Letitia James and\u00a0Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Democrat lawmaker vowed to be a \u201cprotector and fighter\u201d if elected governor. @ericswalwell\/Instagram<\/p>\n

The probe into potential fraud is merely the latest controversy involving Swalwell, who was booted off the powerful\u00a0House Intelligence Committee by then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) in January 2023, following reports three years prior that a suspected Chinese spy had infiltrated the congressman\u2019s campaign \u2014 and got close to him personally.<\/p>\n

Fang Fang, also known as Christine Fang, was a purported honeytrap who entered the US from China as a college student in 2011 \u2014 but allegedly spent the next four years wooing state and federal lawmakers to potentially obtain sensitive government intelligence.<\/p>\n

At least two mayors of midwestern US cities had a romantic or sexual relationship with Fang, a US intelligence official and a former elected official told Axios in 2020.<\/p>\n

The FBI gave Swalwell a defensive briefing about how Fang, who worked as a bundler on his 2014 House campaign, was seducing politicians, causing him to cut off all contact with her in 2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cEric Swalwell cannot get a security clearance in the public sector. Why would we ever give him a security clearance in the secrets to America? So, I will not allow him to be on Intel,\u201d McCarthy told Fox News in November 2022.<\/p>\n

Swalwell\u2019s\u00a0relationship with Fang later became the focus of a two-year probe by the House Ethics Committee.<\/p>\n

The ethics panel closed the inquiry in May 2023 with no finding of fault, but cautioned Swalwell in a letter that \u201c[m]embers should be conscious of the possibility that foreign governments may attempt to secure improper influence through gifts and other interactions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a press conference in Brazil on Nov. 11, 2025. REUTERS<\/p>\n

Eric Swalwell with his wife and kids. @ericswalwell\/Instagram<\/p>\n

Swalwell is the 14th Democrat to formally join the race to replace Newsom, seen by many as a top contender for the White House in 2028. Other major\u00a0candidates include Swalwell\u2019s former House colleague Katie Porter, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, billionaire Tom Steyer, and ex-Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) announced Thursday night that he will join the crowded race to replace Golden State…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2136,2132,416,22680,2077,3677,9,11,10,87,58],"class_list":{"0":"post-47382","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-democrats","10":"tag-elections","11":"tag-eric-swalwell","12":"tag-gavin-newsom","13":"tag-governors","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-headlines","16":"tag-new-york-news","17":"tag-politics","18":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47382","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=47382"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47382\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}