Eric Swalwell kept spending heavily from his campaign war chest after dropping out of the California governor's race, including more than $6,100 on alcohol deliveries through Drizly and over $19,000 on Uber Eats, according to federal campaign disclosures now drawing fresh scrutiny of the embattled former congressman.
The spending, first detailed by the Daily Mail, spans years of Federal Election Commission filings and paints a picture of a campaign account that functioned less like a political operation and more like a personal expense account. The numbers are specific, the patterns are persistent, and the questions they raise go well beyond bad optics.
The FEC reported that Swalwell was responsible for roughly 25 percent of all political spending with Drizly, the now-defunct alcohol delivery app, since 2019. His campaign made more than 100 separate Drizly purchases over a four-year stretch beginning in 2020. Some of those purchases coincided with multiple trips to Las Vegas, where Swalwell spent thousands at the five-star Cosmopolitan hotel and casino.
In July 2021, Swalwell visited the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas three times during a 10-day trip, racking up more than $3,100 in expenses and nearly $600 for two steakhouse dinners alone, the New York Post reported based on federal campaign disclosures.
When Drizly shut down in 2024, the spending didn't stop. It migrated. Swalwell's congressional campaigns used Uber Eats more than 220 times after the alcohol app closed, billing more than $19,000 to donors. A 135-page FEC filing reviewed by the Daily Mail showed that "Swalwell for Congress" spent $76,900 in the first three months of the year, despite his decision to drop out of the governor's race in November.
Over 80 pages of that filing consisted exclusively of Uber and Uber Eats charges. The rest included $637 to Cook Construction LLC for internet and television services, multiple charges to Google, Zoom, and Apple, $273 to See's Candles for gifts, and $186 to a Salt Lake City shop called Spoonful of Comfort, which sends care packages of chicken noodle soup.
The filing also showed that Amanda Barbosa, a Brazilian nanny employed by Swalwell and his wife Brittany Watts, received thousands of dollars in campaign funds in the first quarter of 2026. FEC records previously reviewed by the Daily Mail indicated Barbosa received $46,930 in campaign funds in 2022. NOTUS estimated Swalwell's campaign paid a total of $72,000 on childcare expenses throughout 2025.
The FEC permits campaign funds to be used after an election for "winding down costs," including moving expenses, gifts, and charitable donations. Childcare expenses are also allowed if a candidate is actively running for office. But Swalwell had already exited the governor's race, raising the question of what active candidacy, exactly, justified tens of thousands in continued spending.
Swalwell has not been formally accused of misusing campaign funds. The Daily Mail reported it reached out to both the FEC and Swalwell's attorney for comment.
The campaign finance trail is only one thread in a rapidly unraveling political career. Swalwell's downfall accelerated last week when at least five women accused him of sexual misconduct. Lonna Drewes, a former model and fashion software company owner, accused Swalwell of rape at a news conference on Tuesday. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said in a statement that its Special Victims Bureau would investigate the matter.
Swalwell has flatly denied the assault allegations. Newsmax reported that Swalwell said on X:
"These allegations of sexual assault are flat false. They are absolutely false. They did not happen. They have never happened. And I will fight them with everything I have."
He separately acknowledged past "mistakes in judgment" and apologized to his wife, saying those issues were between them. That careful parsing, deny the criminal allegations, concede vague personal failings, is a familiar Washington playbook. It invites the obvious follow-up: what, specifically, were the "mistakes"?
Swalwell's record of demanding accountability from others makes the evasion harder to sustain. He was among the loudest voices insisting that accusers of Brett Kavanaugh "deserve to be heard", a standard he now appears reluctant to apply to himself.
The political fallout has been swift and bipartisan. Katie Porter called on Swalwell to resign from Congress and end his gubernatorial campaign. Senator Ruben Gallego, once a Swalwell ally, came out in support of the alleged victims and told reporters:
"Eric Swalwell lied to all of us. He lied to the most powerful people in this country, and they trusted him."
Gallego added: "That clouded my judgment."
The pressure ultimately proved too great. The Associated Press reported that Swalwell and Rep. Tony Gonzales announced their resignations within hours of each other as Congress returned to Washington, both facing the prospect of expulsion from the House. A bipartisan group of congresswomen had threatened to file resolutions forcing House votes on expelling both men.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called the day "an important turning point." Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández said, "Accountability can happen. We can hold men accountable when they abuse women, and we're going to do more of it."
The campaign spending and sexual misconduct allegations are not the only probes circling Swalwell. The Department of Homeland Security opened a federal investigation into whether Swalwell and his wife illegally employed Amanda Barbosa after her temporary work authorization allegedly expired, the same nanny whose name appears throughout the campaign finance filings.
The Manhattan District Attorney's office has also opened a criminal probe into Swalwell over a separate sexual assault allegation, adding yet another jurisdiction to the growing list of entities scrutinizing his conduct.
Meanwhile, Swalwell's history of positioning himself as a transparency hawk has drawn renewed attention. He previously reversed his own transparency crusade to block the release of Chinese intelligence files, a move that looked self-serving at the time and looks worse now.
Even his personal conduct at public events has come under scrutiny. Reports emerged that Swalwell was seen "overserved" at a Washington event, which one commentator called a national security concern, a characterization that lands differently now that campaign records show years of alcohol delivery charges.
Campaign finance rules exist for a reason. Donors give money to elect candidates and advance policy, not to fund steakhouse dinners, alcohol deliveries, chicken noodle soup care packages, and internet service bills at a candidate's home. The FEC's "winding down" exception is meant to cover the legitimate costs of shutting down a campaign operation. It was not designed as a permission slip to keep spending indefinitely after quitting a race.
Swalwell's 135-page filing tells a story the congressman never intended to tell publicly. Over 80 pages of Uber and Uber Eats charges. A quarter of all political Drizly spending nationwide attributed to one man. Tens of thousands routed to a nanny now at the center of a federal immigration investigation. And $76,900 billed to donors in a single quarter, after the campaign was over.
The FEC, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, DHS, and the Manhattan DA are all now looking at different pieces of the same man's record. Swalwell has denied the criminal allegations and has not been formally accused of campaign fund misuse. But the filings are public, the numbers are real, and the pattern is hard to explain away as bookkeeping.
When a politician spends years lecturing the country about accountability and transparency, the receipts had better be clean. Swalwell's aren't.
