Swalwell misbehaved ‘open secret’ journalists failed to report, critics say

Multiple reports from journalists and political organizations that allegations of sexual misconduct against former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., were an open secret that had gone unreported for a long time have caused anger and outrage.

Swalwell, until earlier this month the top candidate for governor of California, has seen his career decline in the past week after a flood of allegations of sexual misconduct, including allegations of rape and sexual harassment. He suspended his campaign, resigned from Congress and admitted “mistakes” while denying the most serious charges against him.

Swalwell has been a prominent member of the House for more than a decade, especially since the first term of President Donald Trump began and became one of the faces of the “resistance.”

In December 2025, Democratic strategist Michael Trujillo warned about Swalwell’s bones in a now-deleted social media post.

“I think Swalwell would be happy today, but people know he slept with a lot of his students while he was married, sexually assaulted others while they were engaged, has a bunch of weird late-night texts stored on his interns’ phones, but he realizes he’s going to have to answer for this later in the campaign, right? Accept it at your own peril, folks,” Trujillo wrote.

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Trujillo later said he removed the post after receiving a suspension and quitting Swalwell’s campaign. But her stark warning to Democrats that it is dangerous to support Swalwell’s bid for governor came true this week when more women came forward.

Swalwell now faces a string of charges, including drugging and raping one woman and sexually assaulting one of his employees, which has sparked at least two criminal investigations in the area. These accusations, which he strongly denies, have led to questions being raised as to who knows about these shameful practices.

Swalwell partly developed his career as a cable news guest, making hundreds of appearances on CNN and MS NOW — formerly MSNBC — while in Congress. He was a staunch supporter of the Russiagate “collusion” theory and made a brief 2020 presidential bid, based in part on his TV presence.

Trujillo said reporters were working to confirm the rumors about Swalwell in 2020, but “the power is gone to get him out” once he drops out of that year’s Democratic presidential race.

Cheyenne Hunt, the Democratic Gen Z activist who helped bring the allegations against Swalwell to light through a series of viral videos, also bluntly said the allegations were floating around Capitol Hill.

“I’ve heard these rumors for years,” Hunt said on TikTok before Swalwell’s political career came into play.

PELOSI LEAVES ALLY SWALWELL AMID SEX ALLEGATIONS.

Politico’s California bureau chief and senior political reporter collaborated on a piece titled, “The gossip network that caught Eric Swalwell,” noting that the Democrat “has developed a reputation for unpleasant and sometimes unwanted behavior toward women.”

“Those warnings were shared on social media but rarely traveled outside of the political party,” Politico reported in a piece crediting Trujillo, Hunt and Arielle Fodor, known as “Mrs. Frazzled” on social media, for finally coming forward with the allegations.

Many others have suggested the “open secrecy” surrounding Swalwell when his political career first came to light.

“It was an open secret that he had problems with women, that he was prone to binge drinking, misbehaving with women,” “The View” co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said this week.

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Journalist Yashar Ali responded to a social media post criticizing “all Democrats” for dismissing Swalwell out of a smoking gun by saying, “It’s because they’ve known each other for years.”

Another reporter wrote that he didn’t work to report some rumors because “MeToo on the Hill news is not on my beat.”

Heritage Foundation news associate Tim Young believes that reporting from the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN that exposed allegations of Swalwell’s behavior was pushed by Democrats to “remove him from the primary before the damage is irreparable.”

“The bottom line is that the media isn’t just leaving skews, but they’re part of the Democrat machine. They’re covering ‘open secrets’ about the behavior of their supporters, and then turning them on when they get their marching orders,” Young told Fox News Digital.

The Washington Post published a story, “How Eric Swalwell rose to the top of Democratic politics as rumors followed him,” reporting that the ex-lawyer “was dogged by persistent rumors of misbehavior” but thrived because the Democratic Party “was enamored with the young congressman’s talent for soundbiting and harassing President Donald Trump.”

The Post added that many are wondering how it was possible for Swalwell to “rise so high and so quickly in a group that claims to support women’s rights.” A San Francisco Chronicle article on Friday noted the “surprisingly rapid decline in favor of a rising star in the Democratic Party, where many close allies and people who knew Swalwell are still trying to make sense of it.”

FORMER WALWELL ALLY SAYS LONG RELATIONSHIP WITH HER ‘SHAPED MY JUDGMENT’ AS HE SPREADS DC RUMORS.

Former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., was the darling of the liberal media before his rapid fall from grace. (Screenshot by MSNBC)

Conservative pundit Stephen L. Miller offered the suggestion to the Post on his “Versus Media” podcast.

“I know where the Washington Post can start, putting up a mirror,” Miller said.

“The piece continues kind of his growth in Congress, saying he became best friends with Nancy Pelosi early on,” Miller continued. “That’s why the Washington Post decided not to pursue any of these rumors for more than six years.”

However, reporting sexual misconduct by powerful people has always been a struggle. Media advocates recognize the difficulty of women coming forward to make serious allegations and recall such tragic events.

In 2017, CNN reported that “more than half a dozen independent respondents named the California congressman for pursuing female workers.” CNN did not name the attorney because the claims are “unverified.” CNN did not confirm that the line was directed at Swalwell, but one of the article’s reporters, MJ Lee, sent the story to X on Tuesday.

Nine years later, CNN’s Brian Stelter was grilled on Monday for declaring that Swalwell ending his bid for governor of California is “a testament to the power of investigative reporting.”

Hill columnist T. Becket Adams laughed, “And it only took seven terms in Congress and about a dozen victims for investigative reporters to expose moral issues that everyone knew.”

ERIC SWALWELL WAS NOT IN THE NEWS FOR YEARS BEFORE A QUICK FALL FROM GRACE

Journalist Drew Holden responded, “In fact it’s so powerful that many journalists waited ten years to say anything about Swalwell’s misconduct.”

“Now we’ve had multiple reporters come out saying that Swalwell’s conduct has been an open secret since at least 2017. So no, this is not evidence of investigative reporting ability. If anything, it’s a failure of investigative reporting,” responded host Erick Erickson.

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Fox News Digital’s Ashley Oliver contributed to this report.