The California Democrat has admitted to “personal mistakes” outside his marriage but insisted they were “consensual in nature” and didn’t break any rules.
California governor candidate Swalwell denies sexual assault allegations
U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat and a leading candidate for governor of the state, on Friday (April 10) flatly denied accusations of sexual assault by a former congressional staffer as “absolutely false.” Kristy Kilburn reports.
A woman is accusing a California Democratic congressman of sexual assault and harassment, according to her attorneys.
The allegations against 51-year-old Rep. Jimmy Gomez, who denies wrongdoing, come amid a widespread reckoning that’s been rocking Capitol Hill for months, prompting several high-profile resignations and campaign suspensions. They add to a mounting pile of scandals plaguing both Republicans and Democrats as the midterm elections approach.
The lawyers for the woman accusing Gomez of misconduct said this week’s probe highlighted a broad and disturbing pattern.
“This is just the latest example of brazen sexual misconduct by a member of Congress,” they said. “Congress must act to rein in its members who seem to believe that preying on young women working on Capitol Hill is one of the perks of their job.”
On Monday, Aug. 17, the House Ethics Committee announced that it was investigating whether Gomez, who has represented a district in Los Angeles County since 2017, “may have engaged in sexual misconduct in violation” of congressional conduct rules, “including engaging in inappropriate sexual contact with a House staffer.” It is unclear from the allegations whether the woman represented by attorneys is the House staffer referenced by the committee or when the events allegedly happened.
In statements shared with multiple outlets after the panel launched its probe, the congressman admitted to having made “personal mistakes outside (his) marriage,” but emphasized that they were “consensual in nature” and that nothing he did violated ethics rules.
Several days later, two lawyers issued a statement disputing that assertion.
“Contrary to Representative Gomez’s assertion in his statement, his actions were not ‘consensual in nature’ with respect to our client,” wrote the lawyers, Lisa J. Banks and Sarah E. Nesbitt, who said they represented one of the women interviewed by the Ethics Committee. Gomez’s office did not respond to USA TODAY’s inquiries about these allegations.
The investigation is not proof of any wrongdoing by Gomez, according to Rep. Michael Guest, the Republican chairman of the Ethics Committee, and Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, the top Democrat on the panel.
“The Committee notes that the mere fact that it is investigating these allegations, and publicly disclosing its review, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred,” the pair wrote in a joint press release.
Lawmakers across party lines facing ethics probes
Misconduct accusations over the past few months have triggered a slew of ethics investigations, campaign suspensions and even prompted some lawmakers to take the rare step of resigning from Congress. The accusations targeted members of both parties from multiple states.
In April, California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell stepped down from Congress, where he faced an ethics probe and potential expulsion after several women accused him of sexual assault and misconduct, allegations he denied. A Texas Republican, Rep. Tony Gonzales, resigned within an hour of Swalwell and admitted that he’d had an extramarital affair with a staffer who died by self-immolation after the relationship ended. Weeks after those back-to-back departures, Florida Democrat Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick also resigned, amid mounting bipartisan scrutiny, a damning ethics investigation and a criminal indictment alleging that she stole $5 million in federal disaster relief.
Cherfilus-McCormick derided the Ethics Committee for conducting what she called a “witch hunt.”
House Republicans face scrutiny
Before this week’s allegations against Gomez, recent ethics scandals in Washington centered on a handful of House Republicans. For several of those lawmakers, the political consequences have been swift.
On Aug. 18, Republican Rep. Cory Mills lost his reelection bid in the Florida primary. The Ethics Committee first began an investigation into Mills in November 2025, and a May 2026 statement about the related investigation stated that the subcommittee was still looking into him for possibly violating “various laws, rules, or other standards of conduct.” The panel said it was also reviewing a local police response “to a report that Representative Mills had assaulted a woman with whom he was in a relationship.” Mills has denied wrongdoing.
Other bruising allegations landed in early August 2026 when the House Ethics Committee released a report about Republican Rep. Chuck Edwards, concluding that the North Carolina lawmaker had targeted two women staffers, putting them in “an untenable position” with his conduct. The committee found that any “reasonable observer” would interpret his pattern of behavior as romantic or sexual in nature. Edwards said he acted aboveboard, but he dropped his reelection bid that week.
Arguably the most high-profile scandal recently has involved a bicameral showdown between members of a ruptured family who serve in the House and Senate. Ohio Republican Rep. Max Miller, who is running for reelection, encouraged the Ethics Committee to look into domestic abuse allegations being levied against him “to clear (his) name from these horrific attacks.” The allegations were brought by Miller’s ex-wife, who is the daughter of Republican Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno.
In May, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries launched a bipartisan task force to address sexual harassment and misconduct on Capitol Hill, headed by Republican Rep. Kat Cammack and Democratic Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández.
“No woman – regardless of party, title, or position – should ever feel unsafe in her workplace. Period,” Cammack said in a statement at the time.
Contributing: James Powel, Thao Nguyen, Amethyst Martinez and Terry Collins