Federal agents stopped former Rep. Eric Swalwell at San Francisco International Airport over the weekend and seized his electronic devices, a sharp escalation in a criminal investigation tied to sexual misconduct allegations from multiple women.
Two sources confirmed to the Daily Caller that the FBI confronted Swalwell at SFO on Saturday and took his devices. Agents then executed a search warrant at his Washington, D.C., home the following day, recovering additional materials. The former seven-term California congressman is at the center of a federal criminal investigation into alleged sexual misconduct.
The New York Post reported that agents seized Swalwell's white Apple iPhone, charging cable, wall charger, and MacBook Pro at 8:25 p.m. Saturday. The specificity of the inventory, down to the charger accessories, signals the scope of what investigators want to examine.
Swalwell resigned from Congress in April after a former staffer alleged he sexually assaulted her. She told CNN that after a spring 2024 night out in New York, she woke up to Swalwell having sex with her in his hotel bed and that he refused to stop when she said no. Three additional women later came forward with their own misconduct allegations, according to National Review.
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office, led by Alvin Bragg, opened its own investigation following the former staffer's allegation. Bragg's office urged others to come forward:
"Survivors and anyone with knowledge of these allegations to contact our Special Victims Division."
The Department of Justice opened a separate federal investigation in April, and the weekend's device seizure and home search mark a visible escalation. An attorney for one of the accusers, Arick Fudali, who represents Lonna Drewes, welcomed the move. AP News reported his statement:
"We are encouraged to learn about the escalation of the FBI's investigation into the allegations against Eric Swalwell."
Days before agents stopped Swalwell at the airport, the White House Transparency Task Force declassified documents that added another dimension to the former congressman's troubles. Those records, released on approximately August 17, show Swalwell had "physical relations" with Christine Fang, known as "Fang Fang," a suspected Chinese spy, at least twice.
Newly released FBI files from a May 2015 interview show Swalwell admitted to the relationship himself. He told agents he "occasionally hooked up" with Fang, according to the declassified records. He had never publicly acknowledged the relationship before these files came to light.
That admission contradicts years of careful public silence. Swalwell served on the House Intelligence Committee while the Fang Fang story circulated. He never confirmed the physical relationship until the government's own records did it for him.
Before the FBI showed up at his gate, Swalwell's political career had already unraveled. He had been considered a potential frontrunner in the Democratic primary for California governor. He suspended that campaign, citing "mistakes in judgment," and then resigned from Congress entirely.
In his resignation statement posted on X on April 13, Swalwell denied the core allegation:
"I will fight the serious, false allegation made against me."
But the investigation did not stop with his departure from office. The FBI declined to comment on the weekend's actions, and no charges have been announced as of publication. Swalwell has not been arrested.
The financial side of the fallout has drawn scrutiny as well. Since leaving Congress, Swalwell has funneled over $360,000 in campaign cash to a celebrity defense lawyer, a move that raises its own set of questions about how former officeholders use leftover donor money when legal trouble arrives.
The picture facing Swalwell is unusually layered for a former House member. At minimum, three separate tracks of official scrutiny are running at once: the federal criminal investigation that prompted the weekend's search warrants, the Manhattan DA's probe into the sexual assault allegation, and a House Ethics Committee inquiry referenced in supporting coverage.
Meanwhile, the district Swalwell represented for seven terms is moving on. Voters in Alameda County are already working to choose his replacement, a process forced by his scandal-driven departure.
Several open questions remain. No specific charges or statutes underlying the federal investigation have been made public. The relationship between the sexual misconduct probe and the Fang Fang revelations, whether they are separate threads or part of a single investigation, is unclear. And the total number of accusers beyond the four women identified in reporting has not been disclosed.
The FBI's decision to seize a former congressman's phone and laptop at an airport gate is not a routine step. Federal agents do not show up at SFO on a Saturday evening to collect someone's charger cable unless they believe the devices hold evidence worth pursuing.
Swalwell spent years on the House Intelligence Committee lecturing the country about accountability and foreign influence. Now the government's own declassified files show he admitted to a physical relationship with a suspected foreign agent, and federal investigators are combing through his personal electronics. Accountability, it turns out, is harder when it points inward.
