Sexual misconduct allegations against California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell have ended his run for governor, and now, an internal investigation into his alleged actions is being led by Mississippi Republican Rep. Michael Guest.
Guest, the chair of the House Ethics Committee, said Monday that the committee has officially launched an investigation into Swalwell, who suspended his gubernatorial campaign Sunday following allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman twice, including when she worked for him. The San Francisco Chronicle first published the allegations before CNN followed with a detailed report with additional women making similar claims.
“The committee announced today that we were opening an investigation into Mr. Swalwell. Most of these allegations really just surfaced over the last three or four days, and so, the [House Ethics Committee] is going to begin an investigation,” Guest said on MidDays with Gerard Gibert.
While the House Ethics Committee has launched an investigation into Swalwell – who has repeatedly called the allegations “false” – some of his colleagues were already working on an expulsion vote before the investigation even begun. Others have called for him to resign immediately.
“There have been reports that individual members may file motions to expel,” Guest continued. “They have the right to do so. Those are what are called privilege motions, which means unless they are tabled or referred back to the House Ethics Committee, they would be able to receive votes. I think it’s 48 hours once you make a motion privilege, that motion has to come to the floor.”
Swalwell is not the only House member who faces the possibility of expulsion.
Texas Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales, who allegedly engaged in sexual misconduct towards a staffer inside his congressional office, is currently being investigated by the House Ethics Committee. Florida Democratic Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick was found guilty by the committee on more than two dozen ethics charges after being charged by a federal grand jury with stealing millions in federal disaster funds to support her campaign. Florida Republican Rep. Cory Mills is also being investigated by the committee for sexual misconduct.
“This investigation (into Swalwell) will kind of dovetail into the investigation that is currently ongoing on similar allegations against [Gonzales] and then also kind of goes along with what the Ethics Committee has been doing with [McCormick],” Guest said.
“It’s possible this week that we will be voting to expel members of Congress,” Guest confirmed. “It does appear there will be motions that will be filed Tuesday to expel both [Swalwell] and Tony Gonzales. Then, there may be motions to remove McCormick and Mills. It could be a very interesting week internally as we look to deal with possibly as many as four expulsions brought to the floor this week.”
While historically the House has rarely expelled members without a conviction, New York Republican Rep. George Santos was overwhelmingly removed from the House in December 2023 on an expulsion resolution sponsored by Guest. On Monday, Guest reiterated the importance of that vote as Santos was later sentenced to seven years in prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He admitted to defrauding donors, stealing the identities of supporters, fraudulently collecting unemployment benefits, and lying to Congress about his actions. President Donald Trump later commuted Santos’ sentence, allowing his immediate release from prison.
“I want to make sure that we as a body are policing ourselves any way we can,” Guest said.
There have only been six members of Congress expelled since the Civil War, three of whom were expelled for disloyalty to the Union. Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Michael J. Myers was expelled in 1890 for bribery and conspiracy, among other federal convictions. In 2002, Ohio Democratic Rep. James A Traficant was expelled for defrauding the government and conspiracy, among other federal convictions.
If members resign before an expulsion vote, any active congressional ethics investigation generally stops as jurisdiction is lost over the individual.