Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) fervently denied to reporters on Tuesday that he had any knowledge of the sexual assault and harassment allegations surrounding Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA).
Gallego and Swalwell were reportedly close personal and professional friends, and Gallego had previously chaired Swalwell’s run for president in 2020. This week he denounced Swalwell’s allegations of inappropriate behavior and tried to distance himself from the lawmaker.
“We knew each other differently from anybody else,” Gallego said. “My family and his family were as close as it gets. Our kids were in baseball together, we had dinner together as a family. It was entirely different, I think, than what people understand.”
He described what happened between the two when he confronted Swalwell.
“When there was rumors going around a couple weeks ago, not of the full extent of what I read in the San Francisco Chronicle, I did ask him and he lied to me,” Gallego said. “He knew that I just came off a very, very hard campaign for two years, where they lied about me and my family for two years. He manipulated me to have the same sentiment that I was having… and used this opportunity to move me to defend him. This man led a double life. He lied to us. He lied to his family, his constituents, even the most powerful people in the country. Again, I was manipulated, I was lied to, everyone else was, too.”
Gallego also denied he was in a video circulating online of Swalwell apparently kissing a woman, saying that it was not him in the video next to Swalwell.
“This is an example of the lies. No, I was not sitting next to him, I was not in the room, I don’t even know where it happened,” Gallego added.
Swalwell, who was running to be California governor in the upcoming primary election, has bowed out of the election and stepped down from his current role in Congress after several former staffers made serious accusations of sexual misconduct. Swalwell initially denied the allegations then decided to exit the race and resign from Congress after a House Ethics Committee this week announced it had planned to investigate him. He vaguely admitted to “mistakes in judgment” via a post on X.
“I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,” Swalwell said. “I will fight the serious, false allegation made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make.”
Gallego: “When there was rumors going around a couple weeks ago, not of the full extent of what I read in the San Francisco Chronicle, I did ask him and he lied to me … this man led a double life” pic.twitter.com/adxr3epsJ7 — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 14, 2026
Q: There’s video online of Eric Swalwell making out a woman. Is that you next to him? GALLEGO: This is an example of the lies. No, I was not sitting next to him, I was not in the room, I don’t even know where it happened. pic.twitter.com/tNclNUCkFh — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 14, 2026
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