A progressive activist and attorney says Rep. Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.) will "soon" face sexual harassment allegations from multiple women, including former staffers, a claim that could upend the 45-year-old congressman's bid to become California's next governor. The Washington Free Beacon reported that Cheyenne Hunt, executive director of Gen-Z for Change, detailed the impending allegations in a series of social media posts beginning in late March.
Swalwell did not respond to a request for comment.
The allegations remain unproven, and no formal complaint, lawsuit, or legal filing has been disclosed. But the speed and specificity of Hunt's public statements, and the fact that they come from inside the Democratic coalition, not from Republican opposition research, make the situation unusually difficult for Swalwell to dismiss. Hunt is no conservative provocateur. She interned for Sen. Amy Klobuchar in 2020, worked at Public Citizen as a "Big Tech Accountability Advocate," and took the helm of Gen-Z for Change in May 2025. The group launched during the 2020 election as "TikTok for Biden" before rebranding.
Hunt's first video, posted to Instagram in late March, was blunt. In it, she stated:
"You know Eric Swalwell has slept with many of his interns and makes them all sign NDAs so they don't speak up, right? And when I was 19 he tried hitting on me and sliding into my DMs and I have so many other friends that have similar experiences with him."
That post was followed by a second Instagram video on Sunday titled "Why I Came Forward About Eric Swalwell." In it, Hunt described the allegations as "not an anomaly" but "part of a pattern."
She said she is "personally working with a group of women who want to come forward and share their stories" and is "also aware of a much larger group that is also in this process."
Hunt then laid out the logistics in terms that suggest organized legal preparation, not a spur-of-the-moment social media accusation:
"We have secured pro bono legal representation for them, and they are in the process of sharing their information with major outlets while ensuring that their legal and physical safety is protected."
She added that the number of women coming forward since her first video was "really shocking" and that "all of them moving forward together has greatly expedited the timeline of this whole process."
Hunt said she had "heard these rumors for years, going back to the time when I was working on the Hill" and eventually "started digging in" after learning more from a "close personal friend." That timeline places her awareness of the rumors during or after her 2020 internship with Klobuchar's office.
She offered a pointed explanation for why the women had not spoken sooner. Many, she said, "have remained silent for so long because they believed that they were alone and that if they came forward, it would ruin their careers." Others, she said, may have stayed silent "because of a belief that non-disclosure agreements required them to keep this secret."
Whether any such NDAs exist has not been independently confirmed. But Hunt appeared to anticipate legal pushback from Swalwell's camp, and to welcome it. On Monday, she posted on X that Swalwell follows her on social media and that his team "is aware" of her posts.
"Yet, I have not been served with legal paperwork and I have not received a cease and desist. The truth is an absolute defense and they know that."
That last line, "the truth is an absolute defense", is the kind of statement that raises the stakes considerably. It is the language of someone daring a defamation suit and betting she would win. Hunt said she is "confident this story will break soon."
Hunt is not alone among Democrats raising red flags. Bhavik Lathia, a Democratic strategist, posted on X that the allegations against Swalwell are "real" and that there "is going to be a lot more coming out soon." Lathia urged his party to act:
"Take it seriously. Eric Swallwell [sic] cannot be our nominee."
That warning carries weight because of its source. Lathia is not a Republican operative trying to sink a Democratic frontrunner. He is a Democratic strategist telling his own side to cut its losses before the story breaks wide open. When members of your own coalition start telling you to walk away from a candidate, the political math changes fast.
Swalwell, for his part, has been running a strong campaign on paper. An Emerson College poll published in March showed him leading the open gubernatorial primary with 17 percent of the vote, a 4-point lead over Republican commentator Steve Hilton and a 6-point edge over Democratic billionaire Tom Steyer. He has collected endorsements from Sen. Adam Schiff, Sen. Ruben Gallego, and the Service Employees International Union California.
Hunt said the allegations "will have an impact on the California governor's race." That may be an understatement. If the claims are corroborated by major outlets, as Hunt says is in progress, Swalwell's frontrunner status could collapse overnight. If they are not, Hunt has put her own credibility and legal exposure on the line.
The harassment allegations, still unproven, arrive on top of a separate and long-running controversy that has dogged Swalwell for years: his ties to Christine Fang, a suspected Chinese intelligence operative also known as "Fang Fang." Fang reportedly cozied up to Swalwell when he served on the Dublin, Calif., city council and maintained ties through at least 2015, three years after he was elected to Congress. Reports have said Fang seduced local politicians from other cities as part of covert duties for China.
Swalwell has struggled to address the Fang Fang saga even as campaign legal payments mounted. The Trump administration is reportedly considering releasing an intelligence report about Swalwell's relationship with Fang, a move that could add a second front of damaging disclosures to the harassment claims.
Swalwell hired an associate of Fang's to work in his congressional office as an intern, a detail that connects the two controversies in uncomfortable ways. A congressman whose office culture is now under scrutiny for alleged harassment also employed someone linked to a suspected foreign intelligence operation.
Swalwell has previously reversed his own transparency crusade to block the release of Chinese intelligence files, a move that sat poorly with his public image as a champion of accountability. He has also fought to prevent the FBI from releasing files related to his ties to the suspected spy.
Hunt dismissed any suggestion that political strategy should prevent her from speaking. "I frankly refuse to dignify the idea with a response," she said when asked about the political implications of her posts.
Several critical questions remain unanswered. The specific conduct alleged by the women Hunt references has not been publicly described in detail. The number of women involved has not been stated. No former staffers have been identified by name. No formal legal filing, complaint, lawsuit, or criminal referral, has been disclosed. And Swalwell himself has said nothing publicly, neither denying the allegations nor acknowledging them.
That silence is itself notable. Hunt has been posting for more than a week. She says Swalwell's team is aware. She says she has not received a cease-and-desist letter. And she says she is confident the story will break soon. If the allegations are false, the absence of any legal response from a sitting congressman with access to counsel is difficult to explain.
The broader pattern is familiar to anyone who has watched Democratic lawmakers face scrutiny in recent years. Accusations surface. Allies go quiet. The candidate bets on running out the clock. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't.
Swalwell has accused others of meddling in the governor's race over the Chinese spy files. But this time the pressure is coming from his own side, from a young progressive attorney who says she has the receipts, the lawyers, and the women willing to talk.
When the accusations come from the other party, a politician can call it politics. When they come from inside your own coalition, with legal counsel already retained and major outlets already briefed, the playbook gets a lot thinner.
