The 'Who Knew What and When' Phase of the Swalwell Scandal Begins, and I Have Thoughts

So much has come out about Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell (CA-14) over the last week or so that I'd be amazed if he had a single supporter left among Democrat members of Congress.

Since Tuesday April 7th, Swalwell has faced:

- multiple allegations of sexual harassment from staffers and interns.
- accusations of twice sexually assaulting a former congressional staffer.
- the beginning of an investigation by the Manhattan DA's office into the sexual assault allegations.
- an open revolt among current senior congressional staffers as well as staffers who worked on his 2026 California gubernatorial campaign.
- allegations that he violated immigration and employment laws related to his children's nanny, which are now being looked into by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
- the suspension of his gubernatorial campaign.
- a House ethics probe.
- possible expulsion from the House.

His name has become so toxic that a lefty billionaire buddy who Swalwell had been staying with kicked him out and announced, as many others have, that he no longer supports him.

In short, Swalwell is in the middle of a dramatic freefall, and there are no signs of it letting up.

Swalwell Is Not Doing Well, but Neither Are the Fellow Democrats Calling for His Ouster

Almost immediately after the first wave of allegations hit, various former Hill staffers, strategists, consultants, etc., said in a nutshell that Swalwell's allegedly lecherous behavior was a well-known secret in Washington, DC, dating back many years.

What has perhaps been even more interesting, however, has been the journalists who've talked about what they knew many years before these recent stories broke.

Bethany Allen, who used to write for Axios, shared in a since-deleted tweet that she was aware of the rumors in 2020, but that it wasn't her beat - so she passed it on to others at Axios:

LOL she deleted it. I guess she wasn't a "built to take the heat" reporter either. pic.twitter.com/zUp21oyV2g
— Jeffrey MacGinnis (@Jeff_MacG) April 13, 2026

I did not play it down. I very much wanted to report it out myself. But MeToo stories on the Hill aren't related to my beat, as much as I personally wish I could report them out. I passed the tip along to colleagues on the Hill beat.
— Bethany 貝書穎 (@BethanyAllenEbr) April 13, 2026

And in what I assume was an effort to convince people that she was not afraid of reporting on negative stories about Swalwell, Allen also noted that at the time, she was working on the blockbuster story about the Fang Fang-Swalwell allegations:

Yes, I'm a China reporter, and I was busy breaking this story-- about Swalwell and Fang Fang. You may have heard of it. https://t.co/9Hrua18zfL
— Bethany 貝書穎 (@BethanyAllenEbr) April 13, 2026

Independent California journalist Steven Tavares, whose focus mainly is on the East Bay region, claimed Swalwell's behavior has been known since 2013, before he was a member of Congress, and that he has tried to cover it but couldn't because the women allegedly wouldn't speak out and because Swalwell "was known to threaten litigation.":

Don’t get it twisted. Nobody has been more critical of Swalwell over the years. I tried repeatedly to get the stories out. I can’t force women to speak out, and when they chose not to, I didn’t push. I also knew that Swalwell was known to threaten litigation.
— Steven Tavares (@eastbaycitizen) April 12, 2026

While Tavares' concerns - from the mindset of an indy journo - about being sued by Swalwell are plausible, IMO, Allen's "not my beat" excuse just doesn't cut it.

Whatever the case may be, the larger point here on the who knew what and when - as explained by podcaster Katie Miller (wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller) - just underscores the double standards of the MSM in how they decide what and who to cover - and who and what not to cover, based largely on who it benefits politically and who it hurts:

The Legacy Media and the DC Press Corps knew about these allegations for over a decade. Women on Capitol Hill knew the type of man Eric was—this has persisted since my early days on the Hill in 2013. This was an open secret. He was drunk at bars with young women.
Eric was an elected member of Congress who ran for President. Yet, the Liberal Elite Media didn’t peel back the curtain until it served their interests when he was close to the Governorship.
The media is complicit in further abuses of power by Eric Swalwell; they covered for him.
This would have NEVER been the case if this were a Republican—it would never have served their interests. The double standard is evident in all the disclosures of media who received texts and shared evidence that they held for years.

Amazingly, CNN's Brian Stelter had the gall to claim that Swalwell dropping out of the governor's race was a "testament to the power of investigative reporting." Seriously:

Eric Swalwell ending his bid for California governor is, among other things, a testament to the power of investigative reporting pic.twitter.com/4xzUg944dt
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) April 13, 2026

Yeah... no. Some things... and people... never change.

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.

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