The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York has launched an investigation into a sexual assault allegation against Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., NBC News confirmed Saturday.
Multiple women in the last two days have come forward alleging that Swalwell sexually assaulted or harassed them while serving in Congress, including one who alleged he assaulted her in New York. Swalwell has denied the allegations.
A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office urged “survivors and anyone with knowledge of these allegations to contact our Special Victims Division at 212-335-9373. Our specially trained prosecutors, investigators, and counselors are well-equipped to help you in a trauma-informed, survivor-centered manner.”
On Friday, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that one woman said she had sexual encounters with the congressman when he was her boss and alleged that he twice sexually assaulted her when she was too intoxicated to consent. One of those incidents, the woman alleged, took place in New York in 2024.
And later Friday, CNN reported on sexual misconduct allegations against Swalwell from three additional women, including one who said he kissed her without her consent in public and two others who said the congressman sent them unsolicited photos or videos of his penis.
CNN was the first to report the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office investigation.
One of the women in CNN’s report, Ally Sammarco, told NBC News that she was 24 years old and trying to find a job on Capitol Hill when she first met Swalwell. She said that the congressman invited her to his office in Washington, D.C., to “meet the team,” but when she arrived with her resume, he was there alone.
Sammarco said that she had been communicating with Swalwell through Snapchat. She described the messages as “pretty normal” but said they became more flirtatious. After they met at his office, Sammarco said he began sending photos of himself, including a photo of his penis that she said was “totally unsolicited.”
Sammarco said Swalwell also began going for jogs in her neighborhood and would ask her to come downstairs to chat when he passed by her apartment.
“I thought I was the only one that had this experience with him,” she said in an interview. “These people have authority, and they’re abusing it … I want to validate what these women are saying, and I feel like he needs a public reckoning in some way, or he’s just going to continue doing this.”
Swalwell’s office and campaign did not respond to requests for comment on the Manhattan DA’s investigation or Sammarco’s account. He denied all misconduct allegations in a statement to CNN, calling them “false.”
NBC News has not independently corroborated the other women’s stories.
Swalwell on Friday denied the sexual assault allegations in a video posted to X, telling viewers: “These allegations of sexual assault are flat false. They’re absolutely false. They did not happen. They have never happened, and I will fight them with everything that I have.”
The CNN and San Francisco Chronicle stories were published just weeks before California voters are set to begin voting in the state’s primary for governor, where Swalwell has been a leading candidate in a crowded field of Democrats, including former Rep. Katie Porter, businessman Tom Steyer, and former U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra.
On Friday and Saturday, multiple high-profile figures and groups rescinded their previous endorsements of Swalwell, including the California Federation of Labor Unions and the California chapter of the Service Employees International Union.
Democratic leaders in the House, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., on Friday called the allegations against Swalwell “disturbing” and urged him to “immediately end his campaign to be California’s next Governor.”
Swalwell’s senior staff, both for his congressional office and his gubernatorial campaign, said in a statement Saturday that they are “horrified” by the allegations in the reports from CNN and the Chronicle and “stand with our former colleague, and the other women who have come forward.”
The senior staffers wrote that they are focused on providing support to their colleagues, who may not have the option to leave their roles and lose their income and benefits.
“Any decision of staff members to remain in their roles in the interim should not be viewed as support for Eric Swalwell,” the statement read.
“We, more than he, understand that we have obligations to the people we lead and to the constituents of California’s 14th Congressional District. Those of us that remain on staff do so for the sole purpose of ensuring that as many of those obligations are fulfilled as possible,” the statement concluded.
On Saturday, two Republican congresswomen vowed to seek punishment against Swalwell in the wake of the sexual assault allegations.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., said in a post on X that she plans to force a floor vote this week on a resolution to censure Swalwell, which would require a simple majority to succeed.
And Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said in a post on X that she plans to introduce a resolution to expel Swalwell from Congress. That resolution would have a higher threshold for passage, with two-thirds of the chamber needing to vote in favor.
Two California Democrats, Reps. Jared Huffman and Sam Liccardo, called for Swalwell to resign from Congress.
“Courageous survivors deserve to [be] heard fully, not threatened with cease-and-desist letters from their assailant,” Liccardo said in a post on X on Friday. “Swalwell must halt his campaign, resign from office, and face the consequences of a full investigation. Democrats must not equivocate in the face of uncomfortable allegations about one of our own.”
“I’ve seen enough,” Huffman wrote in a post on X on Saturday. Huffman added that if Swalwell does not resign, he would support a vote to expel him from Congress.
