Swalwell accusers respond to resignation in televised interview

Two women who accused Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) of sexual misconduct said in an interview with CBS News released on Tuesday that they feel “vindicated” that he will resign from Congress and that he has suspended his California gubernatorial bid.

Ally Sammarco, who shared her story with CNN, which included detailed accusations toward Swalwell, said the lawmaker was “pushed into a corner, essentially, because they were planning to expel him,” referring to congressional calls to expel Swalwell.

“But I also felt very vindicated that he realized it was over for him,” Sammarco told CBS News.

Sammarco, a social media creator, told CNN that she received unsolicited nude messages from the California Democrat after she originally reached out to him on Twitter to talk about politics.

She and three other women, including a former staffer who alleged to the San Francisco Chronicle that Swalwell exposed himself to her, had oral sex with her and twice drank with her and had sex with her while she was heavily intoxicated, were ordered to retract their allegations after an attorney requested that they cease and desist.

Sammarco and Annika Albrecht, another accuser, deny accusations that they were part of any rival campaign or party aimed at forcing Swalwell out of Congress and the gubernatorial race.

“We didn’t know each other before,” Sammarco told CBS News. “I didn’t know any of the other women. I knew nothing about them. We got connected through this process, and I’m so glad we did.”

Albrecht told the outlet that two weeks ago, she reached out to influencer and friend Cheyenne Hunt to share a video focused on her story about Swalwell, saying she felt “physically sick and nauseous” about him potentially becoming governor, Hunt told CBS News.

Hunt’s video went live and she was “immediately slammed” with messages from other women who accused Swalwell of inappropriate behavior.

Sammarco said the congressman “thought he was untouchable.”

“I think we just prevented another 30 to 40 years, potentially, of him harming people if he were to stay in Congress,” Sammarco said. “As governor, he would have had even more power and more authority. And he would have felt vindicated too, you know, that he could run for higher office. He ran for president and nothing came out about him. So I think that empowered him to continue doing what he was doing.”

Swalwell has denied any wrongdoing in connection with the allegations toward him, calling the Chronicle’s reporting “false.” On Sunday, he suspended his gubernatorial campaign, after a race where Swalwell had emerged as the frontrunner while facing other prominent California Democrats like Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The congressman, in his seventh term in the House, then announced his resignation on Monday. Swalwell faced calls from political allies and foes alike to drop out of the governor’s race and risked expulsion after Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) said she would file a motion this week to expel him.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s (D) office is also investigating Swalwell over the allegations published in the Chronicle, which reported that one incident happened in a New York City hotel room in 2024.

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