For nearly a decade, Eric Swalwell built a political career out of pointing fingers.
He accused Donald Trump of treason on cable news almost nightly. He accused Trump supporters of being complicit in “insurrection.”
He sat on the House Intelligence Committee while reportedly sleeping with a suspected Chinese spy, then lectured the rest of us about who could be trusted with national security.
When a colleague raised the Fang Fang matter on the House floor, Swalwell called it a smear.
When any of it caught up with him, he cried victim.
Now, according to newly obtained records reported by The California Post, we are learning what Swalwell’s operation actually looks like when someone dares to ask a hard question about him.
Weeks before the sexual misconduct allegations against him became public, his gubernatorial campaign went into full damage-control mode. His attorneys fired off a cease-and-desist letter to the general counsel of Tom Steyer’s rival campaign after that attorney had the audacity to contact former Swalwell staffers about rumors involving the congressman.
The letter insisted there was “no truth” to allegations of inappropriate relationships between Swalwell and interns and demanded the Steyer camp stop asking around.
The lawyer’s letter was just the opening act.
Yardena Wolf, Swalwell’s longtime chief of staff and later his campaign manager, personally texted a copy of the cease-and-desist to the rival counsel from her cellphone. She made a point of flagging that Swalwell’s attorney had represented Dominion Voting Systems in a billion-dollar defamation case against Fox News, and warned that she would also be referring the matter to the California State Bar.
This is a sitting congressman’s campaign manager, invoking a defamation verdict, waving it like an axe at a lawyer who committed the sin of making a phone call.
The intimidation did not stop with political operatives. Wolf also reached out to Arielle Fodor, the social media creator known online as Mrs. Frazzled, after Fodor discussed the rumors publicly. Wolf introduced herself as Swalwell’s “longtime chief/now campaign manager,” blamed the concerns on “a horrible rumor started by a now deleted tweet from an opposing candidate’s staff” and offered to answer questions “directly.” Fodor went public anyway.
Then there is Swalwell himself. Late on the night of April 3, exactly one week before the allegations against him became public, his LinkedIn account sent connection requests to at least three female staffers on the Steyer campaign. When a male Steyer staffer tried to connect with him that same evening, he was blocked.
Meanwhile, model and entrepreneur Lonna Drewes has accused Swalwell of drugging, raping and choking her during a 2018 meeting at a West Hollywood hotel. She has said she believed she was going to die. The LA County Sheriff’s Department confirms the criminal investigation is active.
Swalwell has not made a single public appearance since April 10. He hid behind his attorney and his political allies while his campaign manager played enforcer.
Swalwell built his brand accusing others. But when the accusations arrived at his own door, his answer was to lawyer up; threaten reporters and rivals; and disappear from public view.
In the end, the bully ran out of people to abuse.
Lisa Daftari is a foreign policy analyst and media commentator based in Los Angeles.