Federal agents intercepted former Rep. Eric Swalwell at San Francisco International Airport over the weekend and seized his electronic devices as part of a criminal investigation tied to sexual misconduct allegations, a dramatic escalation for the disgraced California Democrat.
Two sources confirmed to the Daily Caller that FBI agents served Swalwell with a search warrant at the airport on Saturday, taking his cellphone and other electronics. The following day, agents executed a second search warrant at his Washington, D.C., home. The moves mark a significant escalation in a federal criminal probe that has shadowed Swalwell since he resigned from Congress in April.
Swalwell has denied the allegations. In his April 13 resignation statement posted on X, the former congressman wrote: "I will fight the serious, false allegation made against me." But the FBI's weekend actions suggest federal investigators are not taking his word for it.
The probe centers on multiple sexual misconduct allegations. Fox News reported that at least five women, including one former staffer, have accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct or rape. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office opened its own investigation following the former staffer's account.
CNN previously reported the most detailed allegation: a former Swalwell staffer said that after a spring 2024 night out in New York, she woke up to Swalwell having sex with her in his hotel bed. She said he refused to stop when she told him no. Breitbart noted that at least four women have made allegations, including a former staffer who alleged rape in both 2019 and 2024.
Swalwell had been mounting a bid for California governor and was described as a potential frontrunner in the Democratic primary before the allegations surfaced. He suspended his gubernatorial campaign, citing "mistakes in judgment," then resigned from Congress entirely.
His fuller resignation statement acknowledged some responsibility. Fox News quoted him as saying at the time: "I will fight the serious false allegations made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make."
The FBI's weekend move came just days after the White House Transparency Task Force declassified documents on August 17 that added another layer to Swalwell's troubles. Those records showed Swalwell had "physical relations" with Christine Fang, known as "Fang Fang," a suspected Chinese intelligence operative, at least twice.
Declassified records also revealed that Swalwell told the FBI he had "occasionally hooked up" with Fang, the New York Post reported. The Fang Fang relationship had been publicly known in broad strokes for years, but the newly released documents provided the first official confirmation of a sexual relationship, and Swalwell's own admission to investigators.
Swalwell's entanglement with a suspected foreign intelligence asset is not an isolated case among Democratic officials. A former Arcadia, California, mayor pleaded guilty to acting as a secret agent of China, underscoring a pattern of Chinese intelligence targeting American elected officials at multiple levels of government.
Whether the federal criminal investigation encompasses the Fang Fang relationship or focuses solely on the sexual misconduct allegations remains unclear. The timing of the declassification, just days before the FBI's airport stop, raises obvious questions about whether investigators see the two threads as connected.
Swalwell's trajectory, from rising Democratic star to federal target, follows a familiar arc. He once sat on the House Intelligence Committee, ran briefly for president in 2019, and positioned himself as a leading voice against Republican oversight. Now he is a former congressman whose electronics sit in an FBI evidence locker.
The declassified FBI files detailing Swalwell's affair with Fang Fang had already raised serious questions about how long Democratic leadership knew about the relationship and why Swalwell retained his Intelligence Committee seat for as long as he did.
He is hardly the only ambitious Democrat to see a promising political career collapse under the weight of criminal scrutiny. Andrew Gillum, who nearly became Florida's governor, was arrested on drug charges at an airport, another case of a high-profile Democrat whose personal conduct caught up with him in dramatic fashion.
And the legal troubles extend beyond personal misconduct. The DOJ opened a campaign finance investigation into Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, adding to a growing list of Democrats facing serious federal scrutiny.
No arrest or formal charges have been announced against Swalwell. The specific legal authority under which the search warrants were issued has not been disclosed, and neither the FBI nor Swalwell's representatives have commented publicly on the weekend's events beyond his earlier denial.
But the seizure of a former congressman's electronics at an airport, followed by a search of his home the next day, is not a routine investigative step. Federal agents do not obtain search warrants against former members of Congress without persuading a judge that probable cause exists. Two warrants, executed in two cities on consecutive days, suggest investigators believe Swalwell's devices contain evidence material to a criminal case.
The Manhattan DA's investigation adds a second jurisdiction. Between federal agents and New York prosecutors, Swalwell now faces scrutiny from at least two separate law enforcement bodies.
For years, Swalwell lectured the country about accountability and transparency from his perch on the Intelligence Committee. The FBI just showed up at his gate and took his phone. Accountability, it turns out, is not just for the other side.
