Federal authorities executed a search warrant at a Beverly Hills mansion on Tuesday morning, marking a significant escalation in an ongoing investigation involving former Representative Eric Swalwell. The raid comes as the latest development in a series of federal actions targeting the disgraced California Democrat, who resigned from Congress earlier this year amid mounting pressure from multiple legal and ethical probes.
Swalwell, who represented California for 13 years, had been a prominent figure in the House of Representatives before his political career unraveled. In addition to his resignation from the House, Swalwell was forced to withdraw from the California gubernatorial race after facing at least five separate accusations of sexual misconduct, including allegations of rape. One of the accusers is reportedly a former staff member. While Swalwell has publicly characterized the allegations as false, he admitted upon his resignation in April that he must take responsibility for certain mistakes made during his tenure.
Tuesday’s raid is not the first time federal investigators have taken direct action against the former lawmaker. In August, the FBI executed a search at Swalwell’s residence in Washington, D.C. During a separate but related operation that same month, federal agents seized his electronic devices at San Francisco International Airport. Sources familiar with those incidents indicated that the searches were part of an intensifying probe into sexual misconduct, though Swalwell was neither arrested nor detained at that time.
In addition to the misconduct allegations, Swalwell has faced renewed scrutiny regarding his past ties to suspected Chinese intelligence operative Christine “Fang Fang” Fang. On Monday, the White House’s newly established Government Transparency Task Force declassified a series of documents regarding a long-standing FBI investigation into that relationship. The records reveal that Swalwell admitted to FBI agents that he had “physical relations” with Fang on multiple occasions. According to the declassified files, their final sexual encounter took place in March 2015.
FBI records show that agents interviewed Swalwell twice regarding his contact with Fang, first in May 2015 and again in March 2016. Fang was suspected of having deep ties to China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS), and investigators have previously noted that her parents were considered known Chinese intelligence officers. While the declassified documents have brought the national security implications of Swalwell’s past actions back into the spotlight, the recent focus of federal law enforcement has remained largely on the sexual misconduct allegations that ultimately led to his departure from office.
Public tension surrounding the case has been building for months. In April 2026, Lonna Drewes, one of the women who has leveled accusations against Swalwell, held a press conference in Beverly Hills alongside her legal counsel, Lisa Bloom and Arick Fudali. The legal pressure from these private allegations coincided with political pressure in the House, where Swalwell was threatened with expulsion before he ultimately chose to resign his seat.
In previous public appearances, including a House Judiciary Committee hearing with FBI Director Kash Patel in September 2025, Swalwell remained a vocal participant in congressional proceedings. However, his standing within the party and the state of California began to erode as the FBI’s investigation transitioned from interviews to the active seizure of evidence and the raiding of properties.
Swalwell has vowed to fight the allegations, calling them “flat out false” in statements released during his transition out of office. Despite these denials, the widening scope of the FBI’s activity—moving from his D.C. residence and airport intercepts to the mansion in Beverly Hills—suggests federal prosecutors are continuing to compile evidence in a case that spans his private conduct and his historical foreign contacts.
