Eric Swalwell’s shameful meltdown: rape claims, spy scandal, farting on MSNBC
Eric Swalwell spectacularly crashed out in his gubernatorial run for California governor on Sunday — and by Monday, he’d ripped himself out of Congress before he could be investigated by the House for his alleged heinous sex attacks.
The resignation caps a swift fall from grace for the former leading candidate in the gubernatorial race. Swalwell has pledged to fight serious allegations which he claims are false.
But alarm bells and a trail of shame had long followed the embattled representative — who is just 45 years old.
‘Fang Fang’ infiltration — 2012-2015
Accused Chinese government spy “Fang Fang,” — whose real name is Christine Fang, entered the US through California as a college student in 2011 — and spent the next four years wooing everyone from local politicos to US congressmen, per Axios, citing current and former US intelligence officials.
Fang took a special liking to Swalwell, and helped place at least one intern in his office, according to two sources.
She also raised funds for Swalwell’s 2014 re-election campaign and interacted with the congressman at a number of events over several years, Axios said.
“She was on a mission,’’ a US counter-intelligence official said of Fang — and it included plenty of seduction before the feds got wind of her antics and she vanished in 2015.
At that point, Swalwell, who was not accused of any wrongdoing, cut off all contact with Fang.
An abysmal run for president — 2019
His doomed bid for president failed to register with voters after a flashy announcement on CBS’ Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
“I see a country in quicksand, unable to solve threats from abroad, unable to make life better for people here at home,” he said at the time.
But the only thing in quicksand was his failed bid — as his campaign failed to even register 1% among likely voters, per Politico.
He dropped out of the race in July 2019.
Farting for the cameras in 2019
In perhaps his grossest gaffe of the era, Swalwell appeared to let rip an enormous fart while doing a live interview with MSNBC’s Chris Matthews.
He later denied ripping a large one, telling Buzzfeed News: “It was not me!!!!!” he wrote. “Ha. And I didn’t hear it when I was speaking.”
#Fartgate trended on Twitter.
Sex attack claims — 2019, 2024, 2026
Last week, four women accused married Swalwell of horrific acts of sexual assault and misconduct — including a former staffer who claims he raped her.
The California governor candidate’s campaign was hanging by a thread Friday when the alleged victims aired bombshell details of what they say happened to them.
One of the women, a former staffer, claimed he raped her when she was drunk and left her bruised and bleeding during the alleged 2024 attack.
She also claimed she woke up naked next to him in a hotel room in 2019 after a heavy night of drinking and felt physically like they had sex.
