Swalwell’s Call for Sexual Assault Victims ‘to Be Heard’ Comes Back to Haunt Him

Craig Bannister
April 14th, 2026 1:06 PM

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Democrat California Rep. Eric Swalwell’s past comments about how victims of sexual misconduct should make their accusations at public hearings have come back to haunt him – now that he is being accused of sexual misconduct.

The scandal-plagued Swalwell has dropped out of California governor’s race and announced he plans to resign from Congress as claims of sexual misconduct mount and national media coverage of the accusations magnifies.

Swalwell’s rejection of the women’s accusations has prompted social media users to post now-viral videos of comments the congressman made in 2018 during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings.

Like Swalwell, Kavanaugh faced accusations of sexual misconduct. Regarding the claims against Kavanaugh, Swalwell told MSNBC that public hearings should be held to "bring in all the victims, allow them to be heard, allow them to be questioned.”

“That will clear his name if he's indeed innocent," Swalwell said.

 

Now, women claiming to victims of Swalwell’s sexual misconduct are indeed taking to public forums to detail their accusations and be questioned about them.

On Friday, CNN published the accounts of four women claiming to be victims of Swalwell’s sexual misconduct, including one former staffer who says he raped her.

Later that day, The San Francisco Chronicle reported allegations by one of Swalwell’s former staffers that he had twice sexually assaulted her during the time she worked for him. The House Ethics Committee has launched an investigation into the allegations and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is investigating whether Swalwell sexually assaulted a former staffer at a hotel in New York City two years ago. Bragg is also calling on other potential victims to contact his office.

The women coming forward to accuse Swalwell have previously chosen to remain anonymous – until Tuesday.

In an interview with CBS Mornings, Ally Sammarco and Annika Albrecht recounted instances of alleged sexual misconduct, such a startlingly graphic Snapchat message Sammarco says Swalwell sent her:

"He was sending me photos of his face….he was drinking in a lot of them. He would ask me if I was drinking too or tell me I should have a drink with him," she said. Sammarco said he never directly asked her to send him any explicit pictures of her, but that one night he sent her a photo of his penis.”

"I was shocked," she said.

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