Federal investigators investigating sexual misconduct allegations against former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell seized his electronic devices at San Francisco International Airport before searching his Washington, DC, home the following day, marking a significant new development in a case that has already ended his congressional career and California governor campaign.
The airport encounter happened on Saturday after Swalwell arrived in San Francisco. Federal agents presented him with a search warrant and took electronic devices including his cellphone. A warrant described in the reporting also listed a MacBook Pro, charging cable and wall charger among the property seized. The airport search took place at about 8:25 p.m.
Agents then executed a search warrant at Swalwell’s Washington home on Sunday. The Associated Press, citing a person familiar with the matter, confirmed both the seizure of his devices in San Francisco and the subsequent search of the residence.
The sequence gives the investigation a two-city footprint over the course of one weekend: first an encounter with Swalwell himself at an airport in California, followed by a search of his home in the nation’s capital.
What happened at San Francisco airport?
Swalwell had travelled from Washington to California on Saturday. Agents were waiting when he arrived in San Francisco, according to the Daily Mail’s account.
The search was conducted under a warrant. Along with his cellphone, agents seized his MacBook Pro and its charging equipment. The Daily Mail reported that the warrant had been obtained by the San Francisco Standard and that the search occurred at 8:25 p.m.
Swalwell was cooperative during the encounter, according to sources cited in that report.
The next day, investigators turned their attention to his Washington residence. Additional potential evidence was seized there, although the publicly available reporting reviewed for this story does not identify what those items were.
CNN independently reported that federal agents seized Swalwell’s devices at the San Francisco airport on Saturday and searched his Washington home the following day as part of an ongoing federal investigation connected to sexual assault allegations.
What is the federal investigation about?
The investigation is connected to allegations of sexual assault and other sexual misconduct involving Swalwell.
CNN reported that four women confirmed they had been contacted by the FBI as part of the federal probe.
The allegations that preceded the searches include a former staffer’s claim that Swalwell raped her. Three other women who spoke with CNN separately alleged other forms of sexual misconduct, including unsolicited explicit messages or nude photographs. The women in CNN’s reporting asked not to be identified because they feared retaliation or professional consequences.
Another woman, Lonna Drewes, publicly accused Swalwell in April of raping her at a Southern California hotel in 2018. Swalwell denied that allegation. Her attorney said her team was cooperating with law enforcement agencies investigating the former congressman.
These remain allegations. The searches and seizure of electronic devices do not themselves establish that the allegations are true.
What has Swalwell said?
Swalwell has repeatedly denied allegations of sexual assault and misconduct.
CNN reported that he did not immediately respond to its messages following the search of his home, while the FBI declined to comment on the investigation.
The Associated Press also reported that a message seeking comment was left with one of Swalwell’s attorneys following news of the searches. Its report noted his previous denials of the sexual assault and misconduct allegations.
That distinction matters. Investigators are examining allegations, and the available reporting does not establish the outcome of that investigation.
What does the warrant reveal?
One unusual detail comes from the warrant connected to the airport search.
The Daily Mail reported that the warrant was filed on August 13 under Section 242 of Title 18, a federal civil-rights statute involving the deprivation of constitutional rights under color of law. The same report explicitly noted that it was unclear how that statute applied to Swalwell’s case.
That uncertainty should not be filled with speculation. None of the other supplied reports explains why that particular statute appears in connection with the warrant.
What is established is considerably narrower: agents had judicial authorization to seize Swalwell’s electronics at the airport, and investigators carried out another search at his Washington residence the following day.
How did the case reach this point?
The controversy became a political crisis for Swalwell in April.
He resigned from Congress and abandoned his campaign for governor of California after reports detailed the sexual misconduct allegations.
The Associated Press reported that Swalwell had been a seven-term member of Congress and had been regarded as one of the leading candidates in California’s gubernatorial race before withdrawing after the allegations emerged.
The allegations also prompted investigations outside the federal case.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office opened an investigation after a former staffer accused Swalwell of raping her at a New York hotel in 2024, when he was in the city for a charity gala.
CNN also reported that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department opened criminal investigations following the earlier reporting on the allegations.
Why are the device seizures important?
The most consequential new fact is not simply that federal authorities are investigating. The supplied reporting shows investigators taking physical possession of electronic devices and carrying out searches in two locations on consecutive days.
That puts the focus on what investigators may be seeking from Swalwell’s cellphone, computer and other seized material.
For now, however, the contents of those devices, the specific evidence sought from them, what was removed from the Washington residence and what investigators have found remain undisclosed in the reporting provided.
There is also no basis in these reports for predicting how the federal investigation will end.
What remains unanswered?
Several important questions remain open.
It is not yet clear what investigators believe may be contained on Swalwell’s electronic devices, what additional material was taken from his Washington home, or precisely how the federal statute identified in reporting about the airport warrant relates to the allegations being investigated.
The FBI has declined to comment, and Swalwell has continued to deny allegations of sexual assault and misconduct.
What has changed is the investigative activity now visible to the public. A case that had already involved interviews with women who made allegations has now included the seizure of Swalwell’s cellphone and computer at a California airport and a search of his residence across the country a day later.
For an investigation that has already transformed Swalwell’s political career, those two searches are now the central development, while the substance and eventual outcome of the federal inquiry remain unresolved.
