A woman named Annika Albrecht told CBS News on Tuesday that former Rep. Eric Swalwell began sending her sexually inappropriate messages on Snapchat after meeting her on a college class trip, and eventually invited her to a hotel room, the New York Post reported. Albrecht is the latest woman to come forward with allegations against the seven-term California Democrat, who resigned from Congress on Monday and dropped out of the state's gubernatorial race.
Albrecht said Swalwell initially framed his contact with her as professional mentorship. He asked for her Snapchat handle. What followed, she said, crossed a clear line.
The allegations land on top of a separate, far more serious accusation. Another woman, who has not been publicly identified, has accused Swalwell of sexually assaulting her in a New York City hotel room in 2024. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has opened a criminal sex assault probe into that claim.
Swalwell acknowledged "mistakes in judgment" in a social media statement but denied the most serious allegation. The pattern emerging around the former congressman, a flurry of women coming forward in recent days, a criminal investigation, and a sudden resignation, tells a story that his carefully worded statement cannot contain.
Albrecht described a familiar grooming arc. She met Swalwell on a class trip during college. He was already a sitting congressman, married, in a position of authority and public trust. He began interacting with her soon after, she said, and asked for her Snapchat under the pretense of mentoring a young woman interested in public service.
The messages eventually became sexually inappropriate, Albrecht told CBS News. The exchange culminated in an invitation to a hotel room. She stopped responding.
Albrecht told the New York Post:
"I keep thinking about how lucky I am that I didn't go to that hotel."
She added that the intent behind the invitation was unmistakable.
"It was very clear what the connotation was."
The account is notable not only for its substance but for its timing. Albrecht said she had spoken in recent days with some of Swalwell's other accusers. What she heard from them, she said, rattled her deeply.
"It was terrifying to get on the phone with those women and hear their stories about how they were drinking with him and suddenly woke up in bed next to him with no recollection of how they got there."
That description, women who say they lost consciousness and woke up next to a congressman, goes well beyond inappropriate messaging. It points to conduct that, if substantiated, would carry serious criminal implications.
Reports had already surfaced that Swalwell's conduct toward women was described as an open secret in his home district of Alameda County.
The most serious accusation against Swalwell came from a woman who told CNN that she was heavily intoxicated after a charity gala in 2024 when she woke up in her hotel room to find Swalwell assaulting her. The woman, who has not been publicly identified, said she no longer worked at Swalwell's office at the time of the alleged assault.
Her account, as reported by the New York Post, included stark detail:
"I was pushing him off of me, saying no. He didn't stop."
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office opened a sex assault probe into that allegation. No arrest has been reported.
A left-wing activist had earlier predicted that Swalwell would face sexual harassment allegations from former staffers. The prediction now looks like an understatement.
Swalwell resigned from Congress on Monday. He also dropped out of California's gubernatorial race. Both moves came as the accusations piled up and the DA's investigation became public.
In a statement posted to social media, Swalwell struck a careful balance between contrition and combativeness:
"I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I've made in my past."
He then added:
"I will fight the serious false allegation made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make."
The phrasing is worth examining. Swalwell called the assault allegation "false" while acknowledging unspecified "mistakes." He offered no detail about which conduct he considers a mistake and which he disputes. That kind of lawyered-up ambiguity may satisfy a legal team, but it answers nothing for the public or for the women making these claims.
The political fallout was swift. A Florida Republican had already moved to expel Swalwell from Congress before his resignation, and critics were quick to note the former congressman's own record of demanding that accusers of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh "deserve to be heard."
Swalwell spent years as one of the most visible Democratic voices on cable news. He sat on the House Intelligence Committee. He ran for president in 2019. He was a fixture on panels where he lectured the country about accountability, norms, and the importance of believing women.
Now a flurry of women have come forward in recent days. The Manhattan DA is investigating. And the man who once demanded that Kavanaugh's accusers be heard is parsing his own statement to distinguish between "mistakes" he'll own and allegations he'll fight.
Albrecht said she would not consider justice served until Swalwell faces real consequences:
"Until he can't ever harm a woman ever again, and he has faced the consequences for the women that he has harmed."
Open questions remain. What specific dates and locations are involved in Albrecht's account? What evidence beyond witness testimony exists? What role, exactly, did the unidentified accuser hold in Swalwell's office? How many other women may still be weighing whether to come forward?
Swalwell's resignation does not close the book. A criminal probe is open. Accusers are talking to each other. And the man who built a career on moral posturing now faces the kind of scrutiny he once insisted others endure.
Accountability is not a weapon you wield only against your political opponents. Sooner or later, the standard you set gets applied to you.
