Eric Swalwell resignation over sex misconduct prompts Ethics panel remarks

The House Ethics Committee on Monday issued a rare, lengthy statement outlining its work to root out sexual misconduct in Congress, as lawmakers feel increased pressure to crack down on lawmakers’ misdeeds in the wake of two high-profile resignations.

Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat, and Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican, both resigned from the House last week amid allegations ranging from sexual misconduct to assault, and some lawmakers are calling for a broader crackdown on elected official misdeeds.

“The Committee on Ethics (Committee) is dedicated to maintaining a congressional workplace free from sexual misconduct and ensuring that any individuals responsible for misconduct are held responsible for their behavior,” the committee wrote in its statement. “There should be zero tolerance for sexual misconduct, harassment, or discrimination in the halls of Congress, or in any employment setting.”

With its statement, the committee published a list of its publicly disclosed sexual assault investigations dating back to 1976 (the committee was founded in 1967).

The House Ethics Committee is a nonpartisan panel known for carrying out most of its work behind closed doors. It releases information when it’s begun an investigation or when one has wrapped, but otherwise tends not to make public statements.

The panel has often come under fire for its glacial pace, and has been the target of increased scrutiny of late.

Gonzales was accused of having an affair with a staffer who died by suicide last fall. Swalwell, who until recently was a frontrunner in the California gubernatorial race, has faced a litany of allegations, including one from a former staffer who said the congressman assaulted her when she was too intoxicated to consent. Swalwell has repeatedly denied those allegations.

Both men announced their plans to resign on April 13 and officially exited the House the next day. The Ethics Committee had announced investigations into both, but those probes ended when the lawmakers resigned.

On Sunday, California Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, the top Democrat on the House Ethics panel, posted a statement to his X account calling for a “zero tolerance policy on sexual harassment and workforce discrimination in the House of Representatives.” DeSaulnier called the allegations against Swalwell “deeply disturbing.”

“Victims must be protected and perpetrators must be held fully and swiftly accountable for their actions. I intend to use this moment to push for exactly that, so accountability isn’t optional and silence isn’t the default,” DeSaulnier wrote.

According to the committee statement, the panel has investigated “20 matters involving allegations of sexual misconduct by a Member” since 2017. Just 15 such investigations are listed on the document released by the committee, suggesting there are a handful of other allegations that have not been made public.