Women Accuse Rep. Eric Swalwell of Sexual Misconduct, Including Rape and Unsolicited Snapchat Dick Pics

On Friday, CNN reported that four women have accused Rep. Eric Swalwell of a range of sexual misconduct, from unsolicited dick pics to allegations of sexual assault and rape. The alleged incidents span from 2019 to 2025. All four women were in their 20s at the time and initially connected with Swalwell on social media over politics before he allegedly moved conversations to Snapchat.

Swalwell, who has represented California since 2013, made a name for himself as a member of the House Intelligence Committee, a frequent and outspoken critic of Trump, and a 2019 presidential candidate. He’s currently running in California’s gubernatorial primary, which takes place June 2. He denies all allegations.

One of the women, a former staffer, told CNN that Swalwell raped her twice—once in 2019, when she was a 20-year-old intern, and once after she stopped working for him in 2024. She said both incidents took place in hotel rooms while she was heavily intoxicated. “I was pushing him off of me, saying no,” she told CNN of the 2024 incident. “He didn’t stop.”

Another woman said she similarly woke up with Swalwell in a hotel room with little memory of what happened. 

A third woman said she never met Swalwell in person but exchanged messages with him for years after he first contacted her on Twitter. In one message, she said, he responded to a bikini photo she posted on Instagram by writing, “That swimsuit. Fuck.”

“When you’re getting unsolicited dick videos sent to you, it just makes you feel like I’m lesser than a person,” she told CNN. “I just wish I’d never answered him.”

The fourth woman, political social media influencer Ally Sammarco, said that after she reached out to Swalwell on Twitter in 2021, he began messaging her on Snapchat “almost every day,” was always “drunk texting,” and would send her dick pics. CNN writes:

Swalwell asked Sammarco where she lived, she said, and then ran by her apartment building several times, stopping to say hi and giving her hugs but not coming inside. Swalwell also gave her a personal tour of the Capitol, she said.

Sammarco said the contact fizzled when she met her boyfriend (now husband) a few months later—though Swalwell recently contacted her to congratulate her on all her social media success. 

CNN reports that they corroborated “key elements” of each woman’s account through a mix of social media exchanges, financial disclosures, Uber receipts, medical records from STD tests, and interviews with people they had confided in. Since Snapchat messages disappear after 24 hours, the outlet said it did not review sexually explicit messages but did see dozens of messages it described as “flirty.”

“These allegations of sexual assault are flat false, they are absolutely false, they did not happen,” he said in a social media video posted on Friday. “They have never happened, and I will fight them with everything that I have.”His attorney sent two of the women cease-and-desist letters, claiming their accusations are “undermined” by their “voluntary and cooperative relationship with Mr. Swalwell over the course of many years.” 

Since CNN’s reporting, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California’s Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have all called on Swalwell to end his campaign. A spokesperson for California Governor Gavin Newsom said the allegations are “deeply troubling and must be taken seriously,” while major organizations—including the California Teachers Association—have already withdrawn support.

“I always felt like if I came forward, I was going to suffer the consequences because he was so powerful,” the former staffer told CNN. “I’ve lived in fear every single day.”

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