AP sources: Federal agents search Beverly Hills mansion in investigation of ex-Rep. Eric Swalwell

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal law enforcement agents searched a Beverly Hills home early Tuesday as part of an investigation into Eric Swalwell, who resigned from Congress amid a wave of sexual misconduct allegations, a law enforcement official and two people familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press.

Agents searched the home of wealthy developer and Swalwell donor Stephen Cloobeck, where the ex-Congressman spent time before resigning from office in April, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation.

Swalwell, D-Calif., has denied criminal wrongdoing.

Messages seeking comment were left for Swalwell’s lawyer and for a lawyer who represented Cloobeck in another matter.

Cloobeck, the founder of the Diamond Resorts International timeshare company, told the New York Post in April that he cut ties with Swalwell as accusations against him mounted.

“I am no longer associated with a man that takes advantage of women,” Cloobeck told the newspaper. “I support women’s rights.”

Tuesday’s search is the latest escalation in the federal investigation of Swalwell — one of several probes begun after a woman came forward with allegations that he sexually assaulted her twice, including when she worked for him.

The San Francisco Chronicle, followed by CNN, first reported the allegations. CNN also reported that three other women alleged various kinds of sexual misconduct by Swalwell, including sending them unsolicited explicit messages or nude photos.

Asked about the search at Cloobeck’s address, FBI spokesperson Lourdes Arocho said: “Early this morning the FBI conducted an operation in the Los Angeles region related to an ongoing criminal investigation. We have no further comment.”

In August, federal agents seized electronic devices from Swalwell at the San Francisco airport and searched his Washington home.

Swalwell, an Iowa native, was elected in 2012 and represented a House district east of San Francisco. He launched a presidential run in April 2019 but ended it a few months later after failing to catch on with voters.

The seven-term lawmaker had been seen as one of the leading candidates in California’s gubernatorial race before dropping out after the allegations surfaced.

The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has said it is also investigating Swalwell after a former staffer told CNN and the Chronicle that Swalwell raped her at a hotel while he was in New York City for a charity gala in 2024.

In a statement, Bragg’s office encouraged “survivors and anyone with knowledge of these allegations to contact our Special Victims Division.”

Los Angeles prosecutors were also said to be weighing charges.

Swalwell was one of Republican President Donald Trump’s top Democratic antagonists in Congress. He was a prominent member of the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees during Trump’s first term and served as one of several Democratic prosecutors for Trump’s second impeachment after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Swalwell was removed from the Intelligence Committee by then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in 2023 based on Swalwell’s contact with a suspected Chinese spy, Christine Fang.

Fang was reported to have come into contact with Swalwell’s campaign as he was first running for Congress in 2012 and to have participated in fundraising for his 2014 campaign.

Federal investigators alerted Swalwell to their concerns and briefed Congress about Fang in 2015, at which point Swalwell says he cut off contact with her. He was not accused of wrongdoing and a House Ethics Committee investigation that was opened in 2021 closed two years later without any action.