Kash Patel taunts Swalwell with FBI sit-down as resignation fallout grows
FBI Director Kash Patel on Monday invited Rep. Eric Swalwell to sit down with the bureau for an interview after the California Democrat resigned amid sexual misconduct allegations, escalating the pair’s long-running feud.
Patel’s offer came as Swalwell said he planned to resign from Congress while facing mounting scrutiny following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, including a claim from a former aide who said he assaulted her. Swalwell has denied the allegations, while separate ethics and criminal probes are underway.
Patel also urged anyone with relevant information to come forward.
"@EricSwalwell has maintained that none of the allegations against him are true, and now that he’s resigned, we would welcome him to sit down with the FBI and share any information he has," Patel wrote on X. "We also encourage and welcome any person with relevant information to any of these matters to speak with us. Door is open to all."
Patel introducing potential federal exposure for Swalwell, a seven-term congressman and a leading California gubernatorial candidate before he dropped out of the race, comes after the pair served on opposite sides of the House Intelligence Committee during the height of the probes into whether President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign colluded with Russia.
Patel, formerly a senior aide on the committee, wrote a book titled "Government Gangsters" in which he listed out dozens of members of the so-called deep state. He noted in the book that the list was not exhaustive and omitted "corrupt actors of the first order such as Congressmen Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell."
Patel spokeswoman Erica Knight revived remarks from a viral spat between Swalwell and Patel last year during a congressional hearing.
"Director Patel: 'I'm gonna borrow your terminology and call bull---- on your entire career in Congress. It has been a disgrace to the American people.' [2013-2026]," Knight wrote, quoting Patel's exchange with Swalwell.
Patel last month ordered a review of decade-old FBI files concerning Swalwell’s past association with accused Chinese spy Christine Fang, a move Swalwell’s lawyers characterized in a letter as an "extraordinary use of FBI resources to target a political enemy."
Swalwell has had hostile relationships with many Republicans. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy stripped Swalwell of his intel committee seat in 2023, saying at the time that he was untrustworthy and so "we’re not going to provide him with the secrets to America."
Swalwell suspended his gubernatorial campaign over the weekend following a San Francisco Chronicle report detailing allegations from a former staffer who accused him of assaulting her on two occasions while she was allegedly too intoxicated to consent to relations with him.
The House Ethics Committee announced Monday it opened an investigation into Swalwell, while the Manhattan District Attorney's office confirmed it had opened a criminal investigation into him.
Swalwell has denied what he said are the "serious, false allegations" against him but has still also apologized in recent statements for unspecified "mistakes" he has made.
Fox News Digital reached out to Swalwell's office and the FBI for comment.