House Republican plans motion to oust Swalwell from Congress amid sexual assault allegations
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., announced Saturday that she would be filing a motion to expel Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., from Congress after former staffers accused the congressman of sexual assault and misconduct.
"I am filing a motion to expel Eric Swalwell from Congress," she wrote in a Saturday morning tweet.
The move comes after at least four female former staffers of Swalwell's accused him of sexual impropriety. One staffer accused him of sexual assault on multiple occasions.
A former staffer told the San Francisco Chronicle that when she was 17 and Swalwell was 38 he began messaging her on the social media platform Snapchat, a messaging platform in which messages between users disappear. The woman, who the Chronicle did not identify, said Swalwell began sending her inappropriate pictures and requesting pictures of her naked body.
She also claimed that in 2024 she woke up alone in Swalwell's hotel room after a night she did not remember with "vaginal bleeding," according to the Chronicle.
Swalwell, who is married with children, has denied the sexual assault allegations as "false and outrageous." His lawyer also sent a cease and desist letter to the woman, the Chronicle reported.
Fox News Digital reached out to Swalwell's and Luna's offices but did not immediately receive a response.
MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS DOG SWALWELL AS DEM RIVALS SEIZE OPENING IN CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR’S RACE
Running in the open primary to become California's next governor, Swalwell was ahead of all other registered Democrats, trailing only Republican Steve Hilton in the latest polling average from Real Clear Politics. That may soon change though, as the allegations have prompted a wave of calls from prominent Democrats for Swalwell to bow out.
Those calls have come from party bosses like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and from those closest to Swalwell, such as Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who retracted an earlier message of support in order to call for Swalwell to step down. Gallego, who Swalwell has referred to as a "dear friend," initially faced backlash for defending Swalwell.
While other party members like former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif, pile on to the calls to drop out, very few have gone as far as calling for Swalwell to vacate his congressional seat, a fact Luna highlighted in a Saturday morning appearance on Saturday in America with Kayleigh McEnany.
"It is unacceptable for him to just index his, campaign for governor in California but still sit in the House of Representatives," she told McEnany.
Luna also lambasted the Dems on X, writing, "So the Dems don’t want Swalwell to be governor of California, but he can stay a member of Congress? Are we running a halfway house for sexual predators in Congress now? No. He should not be allowed to stay in Congress."
Luna's motion to expel Swalwell, should she get it to the House floor, would require a two-thirds majority vote from Congress in order to pass.