An attorney representing Rep. Eric Swalwell (D) questioned the credibility and motive of multiple women’s sexual assault and misconduct allegations against his client — and California gubernatorial candidate — during a heated interview Saturday morning.
“I’m telling you that I’m assessing the credibility of the claims that are being made, the timing of the allegations, and it raises eyebrows,” Elias Dabaie told CNN’s Elex Michaelson, noting that the allegations were made 25 days out from the California governor’s election.
The allegations from a former Swalwell staffer were first reported by The San Francisco Chronicle. She claimed instances of the congressman sending her images of his genitals and asking her for nudes in return while she was 21 years old and working for him in 2019.
The former staffer further claimed that on at least two occasions, he sexually assaulted her while she was too drunk to consent.
CNN detailed more accusations from three women who’d connected with Swalwell on social media in an article published shortly after the Chronicle’s report.
Swalwell has since denied the claims. Dabaie doubled down after Michaelson grilled him on whether or not he believes all the accusers are lying.
“Many of these allegations are from women who claim that the wrongdoing took place many years ago, and in those years, the evidence I’ve seen demonstrates that these women, certain of them, have reached out to the congressman on multiple occasions, wishing him nothing but the best, supporting his campaign, saying that they’d vote for him for governor, asking for references for jobs attending social events with him,” he said.
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Michaelson pushed back on Dabaie, telling him, “There’s a long history and a lot of evidence of sexual assault experts who say that the victims often go back to the perpetrators.”
The bombshell allegations against Swalwell have sparked backlash from members of his own party, with some calling on him to end his gubernatorial bid. However, Dabaie told Michaelson that Swalwell intends to continue his campaign for governor.
“The notion that all these people pulled their support, I suspect that there are political machinations behind the scenes explaining why the Democratic party has decided to try to consolidate the vote in order to make sure that a Democratic candidate makes it past the primary. So I’m not surprised to see…” Dabaie said before Michaelson cut in.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Michaelson interjected. “That’s one thing if we’re talking about the candidates that are running against him. These are people who endorsed him. These are some of his best friends in Congress.”
Michaelson continued to confront Swalwell’s attorney about what possible motivation the congressman’s former supporters have for urging him to drop out. Dabaie called it a possible “example of a rush to judgment.”
