Overview
- Federal agents confronted Eric Swalwell at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday and took his cellphone and other electronics under a court warrant, and they executed a separate search of his Washington, D.C., residence on Sunday.
- Sources say the seizures were carried out as part of an active federal criminal probe tied to multiple public allegations of sexual misconduct against Swalwell, including a former staffer’s claim of rape.
- Swalwell cooperated with agents and was briefly detained at the airport before being released, and prosecutors have not publicly detailed what evidence they seek or whether he is a target.
- The actions follow the White House’s release earlier this week of declassified FBI summaries showing Swalwell told agents in 2015 that he had a sexual relationship with Christine Fang, a suspected Chinese operative; that older counterintelligence inquiry closed with no charges.
- The searches add federal force to parallel investigations in New York and Los Angeles and raise political and legal questions about timing, potential prosecutions, and the public release of investigative files.