The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is investigating whether Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell hired an undocumented immigrant as a nanny, the department announced on X.
The announcement came just hours before Swalwell said he was suspending his campaign for California governor Sunday. He has not commented on the pending investigation.
On Saturday, the New York Post reported two complaints about the nanny’s employment had been filed to federal authorities. One claimed Swalwell employed a Brazilian national as a babysitter and lied to federal authorities as her temporary work authorization was about to expire in 2022. The other accuses Swalwell of using campaign funds to pay her for two years when she didn’t have authorization to work.
“No one is above the law, including a member of Congress,” the department wrote on X.
The developments came as Swalwell’s campaign for governor unraveled, days after the representative, once a frontrunner in the race, was accused of sexual assault and misconduct.
A woman who worked for the congressman said he sexually assaulted her twice when she was too inebriated to consent, according to a report by the San Francisco Chronicle. Three other women accused him of sexual misconduct, including sending unsolicited nude photos and nonconsensual touching, according to CNN.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office said it’s investigating allegations of one 2024 encounter that the victim said happened in a New York City hotel, and the Alameda County district attorney’s office said it was in the process of evaluating “whether any alleged criminal conduct occurred” in its jurisdiction.
Swalwell continues to deny the allegations. “I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s,” he wrote on social media Sunday.
In a letter published Sunday by CNN, more than 50 of Swalwell’s former staffers called on him to resign and drop out of the governor’s race, describing the misconduct allegations as “credible.” Prior to that, several of his political advisers quit, and many prominent political figures and organizations pulled their endorsements.
The post Homeland Security to review allegation that Swalwell employed undocumented nanny appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
