FBI seizes Eric Swalwell's phone and laptop at San Francisco airport

Federal agents seized former Representative Eric Swalwell's electronic devices at San Francisco International Airport on Aug. 15 and searched his Washington home the next day, a sharp escalation in the criminal investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against the California Democrat.

We are encouraged to learn about the escalation of the FBI's investigation into the allegations against Eric Swalwell

The devices taken at the airport included Swalwell's iPhone and a MacBook Pro, seized at 8:25 p.m. on Aug. 15, according to a warrant return obtained by the Bay Area News Group. Agents took additional evidence when they searched his Washington home the next day. A copy of the warrant was provided to Swalwell, and the application and supporting affidavit remain sealed.

Several inquiries at once

The federal seizure is one of several inquiries now trained on Swalwell. The Manhattan district attorney's office and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department each opened criminal investigations in the wake of the earlier reporting, according to CNN. The Department of Homeland Security is separately investigating allegations that Swalwell illegally employed a Brazilian nanny.

Four women have told CNN that the FBI contacted them as part of the investigation. The FBI declined to comment on the search and the device seizure.

Swalwell abandoned his campaign for governor on April 12 and resigned his California House seat the next day, after four women accused him of misconduct ranging from sexual assault to unsolicited explicit images. First elected in 2012, he built a national profile as a critic of President Donald Trump, served on the House Intelligence Committee and made a brief run for president in 2019.

The allegations against him

The allegations became public in April, when a former congressional staffer came forward to news organizations. She accused Swalwell of sexually assaulting her twice, in 2019 and again in 2024, when she said she was too intoxicated to consent. Her identity has not been made public.

In her account to CNN, the woman said the 2024 assault happened after she had stopped working in Swalwell's office, and that he raped her while she was heavily intoxicated, leaving her bruised and bleeding. "I was pushing him off of me, saying no," she said. "He didn't stop."

Three other women told CNN that Swalwell had sent them unsolicited explicit messages or nude photographs. One of them, the Democratic strategist Ally Sammarco, told CBS News that he sent her an unsolicited photo of his genitals. Later CNN reporting described more than a dozen additional women who said interactions with him over the past decade, from social media messages to attempts to draw them to his hotel room, had made them uncomfortable.

Swalwell has denied the allegations of sexual assault and misconduct. He has apologized for what he called "mistakes in judgment" while insisting the accusations are false, and he has vowed to fight them. A message left with an attorney for Swalwell was not returned.

The Fang investigation

Scrutiny of Swalwell's relationship with Christine Fang, a suspected Chinese intelligence operative known as Fang Fang, has trailed him for years, including the FBI's interest in how she built relationships across the political world. Declassified documents released on Aug. 17 by the White House Government Transparency Task Force state that Swalwell told FBI investigators he had physical relations with her.

Federal investigators alerted Swalwell to their concerns and briefed Congress about Fang in 2015, at which point he says he cut off contact with her. He was not accused of wrongdoing at the time.

The bureau also examined whether Fang helped facilitate a campaign finance scheme involving foreign donors, and whether she made illegal contributions in exchange for internships in Swalwell's offices in 2013 and 2014, according to the released documents. Investigators found no evidence of a quid pro quo and no violation of federal law by Swalwell. They found evidence that Fang had broken campaign finance and other laws, but concluded a prosecution was not viable on national security grounds after she left the country.

A House Ethics Committee investigation into the Fang relationship, opened in 2021, closed in 2023 without any action.

The Fang documents surfaced as Swalwell, once among Trump's most vocal antagonists in the House, faced the separate sexual misconduct inquiry. The weekend raid was first reported by the Daily Mail. Federal officials have not connected the two matters, and the bureau's earlier work on the Fang relationship ended without charges.

The public docket identifies the airport warrant as part of an investigation into possible deprivation of rights under color of law, a federal civil rights offense, and other charges. The affidavit setting out what agents expected to find remains sealed. Officials have not said whether the investigation could produce charges, and none have been filed against Swalwell. The people who described the search of his Washington home spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.

Campaign funds and debts

Swalwell may spend campaign donations raised for his gubernatorial bid on campaign-related costs, including a legal defense against defamation, but he is barred from using that money for a criminal defense, the Chronicle reported. Representatives for law firms he has paid with campaign funds did not respond to requests for comment.

Financial disclosures he filed during the governor's race list personal liabilities including student loans in the $50,000 to $100,000 range. His campaign committee separately reported about $60,000 in debt in its filing through May 16.

How Swalwell has responded

Swalwell has cast the renewed attention on the Fang matter as politically motivated, pointing to his years as one of Trump's sharpest critics in Congress. In a statement responding to the release of the declassified documents on Aug. 17, his legal counsel, Sara Azari, said the earlier inquiry had produced no charges and no finding of wrongdoing.

An investigation that produced no charges and no finding of wrongdoing should not be resurrected years later as a vehicle for political retaliation.

His accusers, by contrast, have welcomed the widening federal investigation. Arick Fudali, an attorney for the accuser Lonna Drewes, said she would continue to cooperate with any law enforcement agency pursuing the matter.

Where the inquiries stand

Before the allegations surfaced, Swalwell had been considered a leading contender in the race for California governor. After the initial accounts, backers including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on him to end his campaign.

The inquiries now stretch across federal and local jurisdictions, each examining a different piece of the accusations.

The government now holds Swalwell's phone and laptop, taken under the warrant executed at the airport.

What comes next

Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department has said when the investigation might conclude or whether it will seek charges against Swalwell. The sealed warrant and the review of the seized phone and laptop, along with the parallel local investigations, leave the timeline of any prosecution unknown.