Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., ends congressional career after several accusations in sex scandal.

The resignation of Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., came with one of the most spectacular falls in political history. Just days ago, Swalwell was the leading Democratic candidate for governor of California and positioned to be one of two final candidates, with the other a Republican. He expected that, regardless of his unpopularity, California Democrats would never vote for a Republican.

Now Swalwell has pulled out of the race, left Congress, and was even tossed out of the home of a billionaire who had been letting him crash there during the scandal.

Swalwell continues to deny the allegations against him and has pledged to fight them.

For the record, I have been one of Swalwell's most vocal critics for the last 10 years. Yet while I am not surprised by the allegations, I am surprised by how quickly Swalwell was abandoned by his political patrons in Congress and the unions.

SWALWELL ANNOUNCES RESIGNATION FROM CONGRESS AFTER SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS TORPEDOED GUBERNATORIAL BID

In Washington, Harry Truman advised politicians that if you want a friend in this city, get a dog. However, even Swalwell's dog, Penny, has yet to appear in public with him. Presumably, she is consulting with her own canine crisis team.

Swalwell has spent his entire career protected by an enabling establishment and liberal media machine. He was a made man in Washington, and those who made him protected him despite years of rumors and allegations of misconduct.

The media is content to call Swalwell a monster without delving into who created and released that monster. Swalwell is no self-made man. He is a made man of the Democratic establishment.

He was never much of a legislator. One 2025 study showed that he was outvoted in Congress by a colleague who had died months earlier. His value was his vicious instincts. He was always first to a mob. When Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, received death threats, it was Swalwell who mocked her. In running for governor, he not only pledged to arrest ICE agents but also to deny them driver's licenses and jobs. He trafficked in unadulterated rage to a nation of rage addicts.

'SMART DECISION': SWALWELL'S RESIGNATION SPURS PRAISE FROM BOTH PARTIES AFTER BOMBSHELL ALLEGATIONS EMERGE

His greatest patron was former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who single-handedly saved Swalwell's career when he was found to have had an affair with an alleged Chinese spy. She told the media, "I don’t have any concern about Mr. Swalwell." For most of the media, that was enough, and they slinked away.

When critics sought to remove him from the classified House Intelligence Committee, Pelosi shocked many by insisting that he remain in the sensitive position, lashing out at those who were "trying to make an issue of this."

Now Pelosi and her media allies are gone. Even Swalwell's friend, Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., has morphed into Claude Rains’ character, Captain Louis Renault in the classic film "Casablanca," and proclaimed that he is "shocked" by the allegations.

SWALWELL CALLS SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS 'FLAT OUT FALSE,' SAYS HE WILL FIGHT THEM 'WITH EVERYTHING'

Gallego, who served as national campaign chair for Swalwell’s 2020 presidential campaign, was pictured with him in a 2021 photo showing both men bare-chested and sitting atop camels during a luxury junket funded by Qatari business interests.

The photo has not aged well for Gallego, any more than his earlier lament that the Democratic Party "used to be the party of sex, drugs, and rock and roll."

The abandonment of Swalwell is a familiar move of political triage. By letting Swalwell succumb to the scandal, Pelosi and others hope to protect the Democratic establishment from any blowback after years of enabling his career. The media, as usual, is complying.

'THE VIEW' HOST SAYS ERIC SWALWELL'S REPUTATION WITH WOMEN WAS 'OPEN SECRET' EXPLOITABLE BY ENEMIES

The media will cover a scandal involving a leading Democrat if there is no real alternative. What is interesting is how the Democratic establishment is now signaling that they want Swalwell destroyed, quickly and surgically.

The media is content to call Swalwell a monster without delving into who created and released that monster. Swalwell is no self-made man. He is a made man of the Democratic establishment.

The congressman’s alleged victims have lashed out not only at Swalwell but also at many in the establishment. They allege that they were rebuffed when they tried to bring their allegations to reporters.

CALIFORNIA REPORTER CLAIMS ERIC SWALWELL’S CONDUCT ‘WAS KNOWN,’ RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT LOCAL SUPPORT

One independent reporter said that he had been raising similar allegations about Swalwell with California Democrats since before Swalwell was elected to Congress. He was also turned away.

Swalwell was useful, and that made his "appetites" irrelevant. If even half of these allegations against him are true, it shows the sense of license that Swalwell developed for years in Washington.

He lost that political immunity this week and now faces real legal liability. That does not mean that Democrats will not try to control the damage. They want Swalwell to take a deal to avoid any investigations that will pull other Democrats into the vortex of the scandal.

ERIC SWALWELL FACES MANHATTAN SEX ASSAULT PROBE AFTER ENDING CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR CAMPAIGN AMID ALLEGATIONS

They are counting on New York and California district attorneys to produce the type of controlled explosion seen in the construction industry, where a hotel is brought down without damaging the adjacent structures.

The problem is that Republicans may not just accept his resignation as the final act. They could call the women who are accusing Swalwell of crimes to testify and even call some of his congressional friends who took trips and partied with him. They could cite Swalwell himself for demanding such total transparency from others.

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Swalwell's resignation on Tuesday may indicate that he is now fully briefed on what lies ahead. With a criminal investigation announced in New York and one expected in California, any competent defense counsel would advise Swalwell that he needs to jettison every extraneous concern, from his career to his office to his law license. Swalwell needs to fight for his liberty if these women are prepared to give statements not just to the media but to the police.

In both New York and California, the statutes of limitations for rape and sexual assault have been removed. The published allegations, from raping intoxicated women to leaving victims bruised and bleeding, would likely satisfy those statutes if established by the police.

Swalwell, ironically, will now join Hunter Biden as a political refugee. (Swalwell famously supported defying a congressional subpoena.) Like Hunter, Swalwell lost both influence and the ability to make money when he fell out of power this week. Hunter is now reportedly millions in debt and remaining in South Africa.

Swalwell may have to burn through his wealth to fend off these criminal investigations in multiple jurisdictions. If any of the allegations are proven, he will likely lose his law license and ability to support himself as a lawyer.

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In the end, this is no morality tale because there are no more moral figures, from Swalwell to those who created or protected him. It is a Washington tale where morality, like villainy, is measured by your proximity to power.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM JONATHAN TURLEY

Jonathan Turley is a Fox News Media contributor and the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University.  

He is the author of the new book "Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution" (Simon & Schuster, Feb 3, 2026), on the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.on the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.

He is a nationally recognized legal scholar who has written extensively in areas ranging from constitutional law to legal history to the Supreme Court. He has written over three dozen academic articles that have appeared in a variety of leading law journals.

Professor Turley also served as counsel in some of the most notable cases in the last two decades including the representation of whistleblowers, military personnel, former cabinet members, judges, members of Congress, and a wide range of other clients.

Professor Turley testified more than 50 times before the House and Senate on constitutional and statutory issues, including the Senate confirmation hearings of cabinet members and jurists such as Justice Neil Gorsuch. He also appeared as an expert witness in both the impeachment hearings of President Bill Clinton and Donald Trump.

Professor Turley received his B.A. at the University of Chicago and his J.D. at Northwestern. In 2008, he was given an honorary Doctorate of Law from John Marshall Law School for his contributions to civil liberties and the public interest. 

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