If Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-California, thought that resigning was going to make his scandal go away, he has another thing coming.
The congressman is facing accusations that include rape, sexual assault and harassment, and the women are coming forward. In an interview with CBS News, Ally Sammarco and Annika Albrecht sat down to discuss why they came forward to speak about their experiences with Swalwell and to call for justice.
Watch:
Albrecht revealed that Swalwell offered to keep in touch with her after a school trip in college. After adding all of the students in the group to a group chat, Swalwell seemingly singled out Albrecht, the only female in the group, and added her on Snapchat.
“I was really surprised. I was confused. I didn’t think it was him,” she said, noting that she asked the others if they had received similar invitations, which they confirmed they had not. Albrecht explained that the messages “started to take a turn and they started to get flirty,” though she maintained a “platonic and professional manner” in her responses. But unable to take a hint, she says Swalwell’s correspondence eventually crossed the line into “sexually inappropriate.” He even invited her to his hotel room one night, and it was “very clear what the connotation was.” She insists she didn’t respond.
“I keep thinking about how lucky I am that didn’t go to that hotel,” she said.
Sammarco had a similar story to tell after meeting the congressman in 2021 while she worked for former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s political campaign.
“She said she messaged Swalwell on Twitter because they had similar upbringings – both grew up in homes with Republican parents. She figured he wouldn’t even see her message, but says he responded ‘fairly quickly’ and the two continued messaging each other over the next day before moving to text messages, which CBS News has reviewed,” the outlet reported. When Swalwell wanted to keep in touch, the woman says she “felt like a million bucks.”
“I was thrilled, and I was flattered.”
But then, as with Albrecht, she started to get messages from Swalwell that she “thought had a weird connotation to them.” Despite her gut telling her something was amiss, Sammarco says she “trusted that he was an established figure who wouldn’t put his credibility on the line.” He asked her to communicate with him on Snapchat, where it became clear that he wasn’t looking for a professional relationship with her.
“He was sending me photos of his face….he was drinking in a lot of them. He would ask me if I was drinking too or tell me I should have a drink with him,” she said, going on to reveal that one night, he sent her a picture of his penis.
“I was shocked,” the young woman said, adding, “I don’t think I responded.”
“He gave off this perception that he was a family man. That he was a fighter. That he was a defender of women. And that couldn’t be further from the truth,” she said. “If these are the people that are out there championing women and, you know, protectors of women, and ‘We need to hold people accountable,’ and then behind closed doors they’re doing this, that is a huge discrepancy for anybody who’s working in politics.”
“I think we just prevented another 30 to 40 years, potentially, of him harming people if he were to stay in Congress,” she continued.
“For me, justice won’t be until he can’t ever harm a woman ever again, and he has faced the consequences for the women that he has harmed,” Albrecht said
Other women have voiced more serious accusations against Swalwell, including one who claims she became highly intoxicated in his presence and “suddenly woke up in bed next to him with no recollection of how they got there.”
Influencer Cheyenne Hunt was also sitting in on the interview and explained that after making her first video on Swalwell’s behavior, she was inundated with messages from women who claim they had similar experiences with him.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is investigating the allegations of sexual assault against Swalwell, the office confirmed to CBS News.
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Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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