Swalwell to resign from Congress amid allegations of sexual assault, misconduct

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) announced Monday that he is resigning from Congress as he faces allegations of sexual assault and misconduct, a stunning fall for a prominent Democrat with gubernatorial ambitions — and a demonstration of a rare resurgence of the MeToo movement that’s faded under the return of President Trump. 

Swalwell, in his seventh term in the House, was leading the Democratic primary field in the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) — a position that put him at good odds of winning the general contest to lead the most populous, and most wealthy, state in the country.

But his campaign imploded on Friday, when The San Francisco Chronicle published accusations from a former aide that Swalwell sexually assaulted her on two occasions. Shortly afterwards, CNN went live with its own report featuring three other women making separate allegations of sexual misconduct.

Swalwell had denied the allegations. But the damning reports prompted a number of Democrats to drop their support for Swalwell’s run at the California governor’s mansion — and forced him to quit the race on Sunday night. 

The explosive developments were also threatening to carry over to Capitol Hill, where a growing chorus of lawmakers in both parties were calling on Swalwell to resign from Congress. If not, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) was prepared to file a motion this week to expel him.

Supporters of Luna’s gambit were reaching for a high bar: Expulsion resolutions require two-thirds of the House to pass. But in a forecast that life in the Capitol was about to get very tough for Swalwell, even a number of Democrats were going public in recent days to support the idea of ejecting their colleague.  

The list included fellow Californians, like Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), as well as close friends, like Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), who was well known as a bar-hopping partner of Swalwell’s around Washington. Gallego on Monday took........

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