Eric Swalwell spent years in Congress positioning himself as one of President Trump’s loudest critics.
Now the FBI has his phone, his laptop, and a warrant for his home.
And one of his accusers just revealed something about this investigation that nobody saw coming.
The Lawyer Who Found Out From the News
Arick Fudali, the attorney representing Swalwell accuser Lonna Drewes, went on NewsNation’s Jesse Weber Live recently and said something that stopped the segment cold.
He had no idea the FBI was moving on Swalwell until it was already public.
“You know, certainly an interesting development,” Fudali told host Jesse Weber. “I was a bit caught off guard because Ms. Drewes has not been contacted by the FBI or anyone from federal law enforcement.”
That’s the attorney for one of Swalwell’s most prominent accusers saying federal agents executed search warrants on the former congressman without ever picking up the phone to call his client.
Fudali didn’t stop there. He pointed out that Drewes held a full press conference, made detailed public allegations, and filed a criminal complaint with law enforcement. She wasn’t hiding from anyone.
“It is odd because Ms. Drewes has been, perhaps, the most public of Mr. Swalwell’s accusers,” Fudali said. “She did a press conference. There were a lot of people there. She spoke about very serious allegations of rape and drugging.”
Fudali said he would have expected Drewes to be among the people federal investigators would want to speak with if the probe involves allegations of sexual misconduct.
What the FBI Actually Did
Federal agents confronted Swalwell at San Francisco International Airport and seized his cellphone and other electronics under a federal search warrant. According to a copy of the search warrant obtained by NBC News, investigators seized an iPhone and a MacBook Pro computer.
Additional warrants were later carried out at his Washington, DC, residence, where agents seized other potential evidence.
Swalwell was neither detained nor placed under arrest during the operations, according to court documents obtained by KTVU. Court records from the US District Court of Northern California show the airport warrant was executed at 8:25 p.m.
The FBI declined to comment. Swalwell did not immediately respond to press inquiries following the raids.
The federal probe now runs alongside criminal investigations already opened by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Three women who have spoken publicly about their experiences confirmed to CNN that they have already met with the FBI, indicating investigators are building a detailed timeline of Swalwell’s alleged conduct.
Who Drewes Is and What She Alleged
Lonna Drewes came forward publicly in April, the same day Swalwell resigned from Congress, accusing him at a Beverly Hills news conference of drugging, raping, and choking her in a California hotel room in 2018.
She said she lost consciousness during the alleged assault. “He raped me and he choked me,” Drewes said at the press conference alongside her attorneys. “While he was choking me, I lost consciousness and I thought I died. I did not consent to any sexual activity.”
Drewes said she delayed coming forward out of fear, citing Swalwell’s political power, his background as an attorney, and his family’s law enforcement ties. She filed a police report with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department after the press conference.
Swalwell denied Drewes’ allegations, as he denied all the others.
In a video posted to social media back in April, Swalwell said: “These allegations of sexual assault are flat false. They did not happen. They have never happened. And I will fight them with everything I have.”
He has not issued public comment since the FBI raids.
The Wider Circle of Accusers
Drewes is one of several women who have publicly alleged sexual misconduct by Swalwell. A former congressional staffer alleged Swalwell sexually assaulted her twice, once in 2019 and again in 2024, when she was too intoxicated to consent. Two other women, Ally Sammarco and Annika Albrecht, publicly alleged Swalwell sent them sexually inappropriate messages on Snapchat, and Sammarco said he sent her an unsolicited photo of his genitals.
Most of the accusers were women in their 20s who worked or had an interest in politics, and who say Swalwell pursued them under the guise that he could help their careers.
The allegations first became public in April, triggering a House Ethics Committee review, criminal investigations in Manhattan and Los Angeles, and ultimately Swalwell’s resignation from Congress before colleagues could vote to expel him.
He had been considered a frontrunner in the California gubernatorial race until the accusations surfaced and ended his campaign.
What This Investigation Signals
The fact that federal agents are now executing search warrants on two separate properties is a significant escalation beyond the state-level probes. The search warrant documents cite a federal statute, Title 18, Section 242, which allows the government to investigate potential criminal behavior by public officials who are believed to have abused their power, according to reporting from KTVU.
That detail matters. It suggests federal investigators may not be looking at this purely as a sexual misconduct case but potentially as something involving abuse of official power during Swalwell’s time as a sitting congressman.
And Fudali’s public statements reflect a tension that’s worth noting. The attorney for arguably the most visible accuser found out the FBI was raiding Swalwell from news coverage, not from investigators. Whether that reflects standard investigative practice or something else about the scope of the probe, the public doesn’t yet know.
But the timeline is moving fast. Warrants executed. Devices seized. Home searched. Multiple state and federal investigations running in parallel. And the man who once lectured the country about accountability is the subject of all of it.
Swalwell spent 13 years in Congress, served as a House impeachment manager against President Trump, briefly ran for president in 2019, and positioned himself as one of the most aggressive Democrat voices in Washington. He resigned in April facing expulsion.
Now the FBI has his phone.
The investigation is ongoing. No charges have been filed. Swalwell has denied all allegations of sexual misconduct.
Sources: New York Post, NBC News, CNN, KTVU, San Francisco Chronicle, PBS NewsHour, Forbes, NewsNation