It feels as though the bulk of my articles this year have talked about Politicians stepping down, whether it be voluntarily or not. A few weeks ago, I spoke about Pam Bondi’s firing and, before that, Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation.
But this time, the person under fire is Eric Swalwell, (former) Representative of California’s 14th Congressional District, and candidate for California governor.
I know this is a heavy topic, but the reactions I have been seeing over the past few weeks have left me stunned, to say the least, and this shows the bigger issue: accountability cannot be contingent on your side of the aisle.
What happened?
Allegations against Swalwell had been circulating for some time before an official story, but on April 10th, a story broke from 2 San Francisco Chronicle reporters, Alexei Kosseff and Sophia Bollag.
Originally, 1 woman had come forward, detailing 2 different experiences of Swalwell assaulting her, once in 2019, whilst she worked for him, and then again in 2024 after seeing him at a conference. Since this story broke, multiple other women have come forward with accusations of harassing texts and explicit photos.
The 5th woman to come forward is Lonna Drewes, who told a detailed story about Swalwell from 2018.
Swalwell has fervently denied these allegations; it is even noted that, on April 9th, before any story broke, his attorney sent a Cease and Desist letter to the Woman. On April 11th, he posted a video to his social media, calling these allegations “flat false,” saying that “they did not happen, and have never happened.” He also said he was going to do everything in his power to fight them.
He also insinuated that these allegations came at an opportunistic time since he was the frontrunner for the California gubernatorial race. Interestingly enough, he talks about how he is not a perfect person, but those mistakes are between him and his wife.
Sunday, April 12th, Swalwell announced he was dropping out of the gubernatorial race. On April 14th, he announced his resignation from Congress. The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation, but the opportunity for his forcible removal ended since he chose to resign.
the response
The response from both Democrats and Republicans online has been kind of shocking, which is what made me initially want to comment on this in the first place.
I had seen allegations start circulating early on, and even influencers who claim to “believe women” were complaining, saying that this is going to cause internal divisions within the democratic party and that this is a bad look right before midterms, which couldn’t be farther from the truth.
On the other hand I’ve seen Republicans who have been a part of the Epstein files cover-up all of a sudden find this sort of behavior abhorrent and condemnable.
demonstrate accountability, not cowardice
The one reminder I wish I could drill into people’s heads is that Eric Swalwell is facing the consequences of his own actions. Somehow in America, it has become the culture that men who commit acts of SA walk away with maybe a slap on the wrist, when the sitting President is named in the Epstein files, most normal acts of accountability start to look normal.
When you commit an act of sexual violence (which is a crime), you lose your job; that should be the bare minimum. Swalwell’s resignation before he could be removed is not “admirable”; It is a manipulative power move to make him seem in control over something he has no control over.
Believing women means believing women. If we want accountability for the Epstein files, we need to lead by example. Standing in solidarity with survivors is non-partisan. Let us all remember that these women are real people who have been carrying these stories for years. It takes strength and courage to come forward, and the response you give matters.