Federal Bureau of Investigation agents recently carried out a court-authorized raid on a residential property in California, as part of a widening law enforcement investigation into ex-U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell, multiple U.S. mainstream media outlets have confirmed. The development marks the latest escalation in a series of overlapping legal challenges that have completely upended the once-promising political career of the 45-year-old former Democratic rising star. Long a ubiquitous cable news presence known for his vocal, high-profile criticism of former President Donald Trump, Swalwell was widely viewed as a leading potential contender for California’s top state office, before cascading sexual misconduct allegations derailed his political trajectory earlier this year. He formally abandoned his 2026 California gubernatorial bid soon after the allegations first came to public light, and subsequently chose not to seek re-election to his U.S. House of Representatives seat, stepping away from Capitol Hill before the end of his term. The latest California raid follows a high-profile law enforcement action in August, when FBI agents intercepted Swalwell at a U.S. airport, seized all of his personal and professional electronic devices, and executed a separate search warrant on his Washington D.C. residence, all tied to the ongoing sexual misconduct inquiry. Multiple women have come forward with public accusations against the former congressman, with claims ranging from unsolicited explicit nude photos sent to female contacts, to a severe allegation that he sexually assaulted a victim who was too impaired by alcohol to give informed, consensual consent. Beyond the federal FBI investigation, Swalwell now faces two additional, parallel local probes running out of New York City and Los Angeles, both centered on the same set of sexual misconduct claims. From the moment the allegations first surfaced, Swalwell has categorically denied all accusations of improper behavior. His legal counsel, prominent defense attorney Sara Azari, issued a forceful statement at the time of the initial reports dismissing all claims as completely fabricated. “These accusations are false, manufactured, and deeply offensive to my client – they represent a deliberate, obvious political hit job designed to destroy a public servant’s reputation for partisan gain,” Azari stated previously. The U.S. House of Representatives Ethics Committee had launched its own independent congressional investigation into the claims against Swalwell, but formally closed that inquiry immediately after he resigned his House seat and left federal office. The series of legal developments also comes months after the White House took action in August to declassify a tranche of documents tied to a separate, long-running unrelated FBI probe examining Swalwell’s past reported association with Christine Fang, a suspected Chinese intelligence operative. Most details of that 2015 relationship had already been made public in prior years, and Swalwell was never formally charged with any criminal offense in connection with that foreign influence investigation. At the time of reporting, the British Broadcasting Corporation confirmed it has reached out to both Swalwell’s legal representation and the U.S. Department of Justice to request official statements on the newly executed California raid, but no formal responses have been released to the public as of press time.
FBI raids California home tied to former Congressman Eric Swalwell – US media
