Speaker 1: Hey, that folks. It is Sunday, April twelfth, and a
Speaker 1: huge political story is now becoming possibly a criminal one.
Speaker 1: Congressman Eric Swalwell, one of the leading candidates for governor
Speaker 1: of California, facing allegations of rape, and now a district
Speaker 1: attorney is asking possibly for more victims to come forward.
Speaker 1: And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ.
Speaker 2: Robes.
Speaker 1: There is now a criminal investigation into an allegation we
Speaker 1: are just hearing about of the sexual assault and rape
Speaker 1: of a former staff member Robes not just looking into
Speaker 1: that matter, but looking into other matters.
Speaker 2: Yes, this has become it was, at least in the beginning,
Speaker 2: a political nightmare for Eric Swalwell, but this could now become, yes,
Speaker 2: a question of whether or not he becomes criminally charged
Speaker 2: in this matter, and as you point out, potentially other
Speaker 2: possible incidents, and so, yes.
Speaker 1: Is that there's something they put out? I was surprised
Speaker 1: to see. Do they know something we don't know? Is
Speaker 1: this just standard?
Speaker 2: Fair? And I don't know if this is standard, but
Speaker 2: it definitely stood out to a lot of folks. So
Speaker 2: we can actually read for you exactly what the Manhattan
Speaker 2: District Attorney's office put out They put this out on Saturday,
Speaker 2: and they urged survivors and anyone with knowledge of these
Speaker 2: allegations to contact our Special Victim's Division, gave the number there.
Speaker 2: Our specially trained prosecutors, investigators and counselors are well equipped
Speaker 2: to help you in a trauma informed, survivor's centered manner.
Speaker 3: Wow, that I have not looked this.
Speaker 2: You point out might be standard operating procedure, but this seems.
Speaker 3: Like they know something that there it.
Speaker 1: Is that was a suggestion there that maybe they I
Speaker 1: don't know, maybe that's just the standard language they use.
Speaker 1: But again, we're talking about a congressman from the Bay
Speaker 1: Area who was running for governor of California. So reminder, Robes,
Speaker 1: why the hell is Manhattan looking into the guy, because
Speaker 1: this is where this incident allegedly took place.
Speaker 2: Yes, the former staffer who basically set this story in
Speaker 2: motion by speaking first to the San Francisco Chronicle and
Speaker 2: then to CNN, she has said that she was raped
Speaker 2: by Eric Swallwell in a Manhattan hotel room in twenty
Speaker 2: twenty four, and that is why charges are being considered
Speaker 2: against the congressman in New York.
Speaker 1: And he's been quiet so far this weekend. He told
Speaker 1: us what on Friday, when the video and all this
Speaker 1: came out, he was going to spend time with friends
Speaker 1: and family over the weekend. So we're standing by and waiting.
Speaker 1: I guess, I guess what everybody's waiting for is for
Speaker 1: him to say he's getting out of the race.
Speaker 2: Yes, But when reporters pressed his attorney on this, this
Speaker 2: attorney said, he's busy running a gubernatorial campaign.
Speaker 3: That was their response, at.
Speaker 2: Least as official as it gets, because that is what.
Speaker 3: His attorney said, Did you have a rally this weekend?
Speaker 3: It probably wasn't the right tone given everything that's going on.
Speaker 1: It's not that's too dismissive the seriousness of what we're
Speaker 1: talking about now.
Speaker 3: Busy running a campaign.
Speaker 1: He didn't brush up against somebody at a bar. He's
Speaker 1: being accused of a violent assault. That's not and he's
Speaker 1: too busy with just fromround me of you know, I
Speaker 1: shouldn't use that comparison, but that, come on, man, that
Speaker 1: tone is not right.
Speaker 3: It's not right. It certainly isn't.
Speaker 2: And look, these stories are mounting, and and look, perhaps
Speaker 2: the Manhattan DA knows something. There are videos circulating, there
Speaker 2: are audio tapes being circulated. None of them have been authenticated,
Speaker 2: but certainly there's bubbling, right. There are people who have things,
Speaker 2: who've seen things, who've recorded things, and they're now starting
Speaker 2: to be put out on social media unverified, But certainly
Speaker 2: there's enough other.
Speaker 3: Just noise that's percolating.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: Some of that noise. We need to be clear here.
Speaker 1: Some of this other noise we're talking about is not
Speaker 1: criminal noise. This is stuff about bad behavior and a
Speaker 1: boy behaving badly, if you will, and it's unfortunately we
Speaker 1: use that sometimes boys behaving badly. But some of the
Speaker 1: stuff that's out there is just trying to show him
Speaker 1: as being.
Speaker 3: A alomanizer who cheese on his wife.
Speaker 1: And what's the way use a smirmy smarty Oh well
Speaker 1: he's smarmy.
Speaker 2: Smarmy, that's marmie. Yes, that that's just sleazy smarmy stuff.
Speaker 2: Is what's being circulated.
Speaker 1: That's what they're trying to highlight there, at least bud Robe.
Speaker 1: There is a separator and all the stuff we have
Speaker 1: been talking about with him, and that is this young
Speaker 1: woman who worked on his staff back in twenty starting
Speaker 1: in twenty nineteen, Robes. Her allegations are something else. This
Speaker 1: isn't just a little a playboy.
Speaker 2: He likes to.
Speaker 1: Drink and likes to cheat on his wife and run
Speaker 1: around and find young No, no, no, no, no, we are
Speaker 1: she is describing. And we discussed this robes in writing
Speaker 1: and putting in headlines, and we worked in the industry
Speaker 1: a long time, and sometimes they like to put sexual
Speaker 1: assault in the headline. Sometimes. The even we've been in
Speaker 1: television news and big networks, big shows don't like the
Speaker 1: word rape, like to use sexual assault. Robes there is
Speaker 1: It's significant to make the damn distinction because rape is
Speaker 1: a very specific suggestion and alex gation that goes beyond
Speaker 1: you can grab somebody's butt and call that a sexual assault.
Speaker 1: This is an allegation of rape, and that distinction needs
Speaker 1: to continually be made here.
Speaker 2: Yes, because this former staffer describes nothing short of rape.
Speaker 3: When she talks about that night.
Speaker 2: Now, she says she doesn't remember most of the night
Speaker 2: and the way she put it to CNN. She says
Speaker 2: she remembers flashes where Swalwell was on top of her
Speaker 2: and wouldn't get off. She says she remembers trying to
Speaker 2: push him off. She remembers telling him no and he continued,
Speaker 2: So that is a rape, she describes.
Speaker 1: It, But she isn't she describing She doesn't remember everything,
Speaker 1: but she says she remembers enough and the stuff she's recalling, right,
Speaker 1: isn't she specifically saying I remember saying no, I remember
Speaker 1: trying to.
Speaker 2: Bite this guy off me and the other points around
Speaker 2: this specific incident that this former staffer describes. And CNN
Speaker 2: corroborated this, as did the San Francisco Chronicle, but they
Speaker 2: said two family members and a friend, so free people
Speaker 2: said that that this woman told them about the alleged
Speaker 2: assault within the days surrounding it. And they also said
Speaker 2: that they have a text message where she sent to
Speaker 2: two friends, I was sexually assaulted on Thursday by Eric.
Speaker 2: So at the time the alleged incident occurred, she told people,
Speaker 2: and she specifically named her accuser. She also gave these
Speaker 2: news outlets medical records detailing her getting an STD test,
Speaker 2: a pregnancy test, and she claimed she had bruises and
Speaker 2: she was bleeding.
Speaker 3: So she describes a fairly violent assault.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and then there was twenty four statute of limitations
Speaker 1: is not an issue right now, right, so they could
Speaker 1: go So, yes, we're talking about a guy who was
Speaker 1: what a month away for finding out possibly if he
Speaker 1: is going to be Yeah, they're going to start voting
Speaker 1: in about a month out in California, the leg right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: and then the election is June's second, and then he
Speaker 1: possibly was on his way to becoming the next governor
Speaker 1: of California. We talked about eight he might get charged,
Speaker 1: criminally charged with something. Now, this is a stunning.
Speaker 2: Look.
Speaker 1: We talk about downfalls and all this stuff and politics
Speaker 1: and ropes from that to that. In a matter of
Speaker 1: seventy two hours. This all happened on Friday.
Speaker 3: It's remarkable.
Speaker 2: Also stunning in all of this was the joint statement
Speaker 2: that members of his own staff, the senior staff members,
Speaker 2: came together from his congressional office and from his gubernatorial
Speaker 2: campaign and they released a statement that, frankly is telling
Speaker 2: and I don't know how else to put it.
Speaker 3: We can read it for you in its entirety. Just
Speaker 3: take a listen. As leaders of teams working for Eric.
Speaker 2: Swalwell, we're horrified by the recent reporting in the San
Speaker 2: Francisco Chronicle and by CNN. We stand with our former
Speaker 2: colleague and the other women who have come forward. We
Speaker 2: believe you should stand with them too. The behavior detailed
Speaker 2: in these reports is abhorrent, beneath the dignity of those
Speaker 2: serving in public office, and betrays the trust of all Californians.
Speaker 2: We also understand that we lead teams who need guidance
Speaker 2: and stability. Now more than ever, we are focused on
Speaker 2: supporting our colleagues during this challenging time. Any decision of
Speaker 2: staff members to remain in their roles in the interim
Speaker 2: should not be viewed as support for Eric Swolwell. We
Speaker 2: recognize that not everyone, in particular our junior staff, can
Speaker 2: immediately forfeit their income and benefits without significant personal risk
Speaker 2: or consequence. Our responsibility now is to them. We, more
Speaker 2: than he, understand that we have obligations to the people
Speaker 2: we lead and to the constituents of California's fourteenth Congressional District.
Speaker 2: Those of us that remain on staff do so for
Speaker 2: the sole purpose of ensuring that as many of those
Speaker 2: obligations are fulfilled as possible.
Speaker 1: Ouch now WO I applaud and I would like to
Speaker 1: hire whoever wrote that statement. It was perfectly said. They
Speaker 1: are actually and I'm sure they're not necessarily working with
Speaker 1: him that much. He's out in California. Maybe they're back
Speaker 1: in DC. Who knows how this is going down, But
Speaker 1: they're saying to their constituents, you're our constituents, even though
Speaker 1: the guy you voted for might have let you down,
Speaker 1: we're actually in this office working for you. I think
Speaker 1: that was the perfect way to say it. I think
Speaker 1: I'm not even upset with them for in the midst
Speaker 1: of all this madness, and what's most important was a
Speaker 1: possible criminal charge that yeah, there's a reality here and
Speaker 1: we have jobs.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I.
Speaker 2: Hadn't thought about all the people who spent tireless hours
Speaker 2: working for him, and this is their livelihood, this is
Speaker 2: their income. Now all of that not only is at
Speaker 2: risk in jeopardy, but also their reputations of just being
Speaker 2: associated with him, And so they're basically making a very
Speaker 2: clear separation from him and saying just because we work
Speaker 2: in his office doesn't mean we support them.
Speaker 1: It's well done. I thought it was really well done.
Speaker 1: And then you know what, it's maybe reassuring to the
Speaker 1: people in that district as well. He's not currently work.
Speaker 1: You could even argue he hasn't been focused on the
Speaker 1: district because he's trying to become governor. Of California. Okay,
Speaker 1: I loved how they put all of this. We are
Speaker 1: actually working for the district, we have a responsibility.
Speaker 2: We got you.
Speaker 3: That makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 2: And look, they have seen where everything is you said
Speaker 2: in seventy two hours. That really is stunning thinking about
Speaker 2: this was just two days ago. But pretty much damn well,
Speaker 2: every single person in politics has not only distanced themselves
Speaker 2: from him, but calling for him to obviously end his
Speaker 2: gubernatorial campaign, which he doesn't show any signs of doing,
Speaker 2: by the way. And look we didn't even reference, of course,
Speaker 2: on Friday, we should point out very specifically, he did
Speaker 2: a video to camera and completely rejected and denied all
Speaker 2: of these allegations, saying, these allegations of sexual assault are
Speaker 2: flat false.
Speaker 3: They're absolutely false.
Speaker 2: They did not happen, and they have never happened, and
Speaker 2: I will fight them with everything that I have.
Speaker 1: And we ain't heard from him since though, because a
Speaker 1: lot more has come out, a lot more detail has
Speaker 1: come out, and Robes, there.
Speaker 2: Is not a.
Speaker 1: You say that you said he's losing support. I haven't
Speaker 1: even heard a measured response or statement from somebody just
Speaker 1: saying give it a beat, let's investigate it's all get
Speaker 1: out now. We want nothing to do with you. I
Speaker 1: haven't even heard just a hey, let's give it some time, we.
Speaker 3: Need to look into this. And Nope, not you know
Speaker 3: what that's so telling.
Speaker 2: Usually there's someone who says, let's wait for police to
Speaker 2: do their job, for the investigation to go forward before
Speaker 2: we make any rushes to judgment. No one is even
Speaker 2: asking folks for a time or caution or just a
Speaker 2: little perspective.
Speaker 3: Nothing. It's all bye bye, bye bye.
Speaker 2: And it's not just about his race for governor. No, no, no,
Speaker 2: when we come back, we will tell you about what
Speaker 2: may happen to his congressional position. And welcome back everyone
Speaker 2: to this episode of Amy and TJ. Yes, we have
Speaker 2: been talking about four days now, the political fallout for
Speaker 2: California Congressman Eric Swollwell, who is the leading Democratic candidate
Speaker 2: for governor of California. That election begins, or at least
Speaker 2: voting begins in less than a month now. Of course,
Speaker 2: growing calls for him to drop out of the gubernatorial race.
Speaker 2: But there is a criminal investigation now, the Manhattan District
Speaker 2: Attorney's Office launching that investigation into that claim of rape.
Speaker 2: Young woman says a former staffer of his says it
Speaker 2: happened in a New York City hotel room in twenty
Speaker 2: twenty four, and so as we're hearing for folks to
Speaker 2: say drop out of the race, he is also a
Speaker 2: US congressman, and Congress has been on spring break Easter
Speaker 2: break for the last two weeks. They reconvene on Monday, correct,
Speaker 2: and we already have at least one congress woman.
Speaker 3: Her name is Anna Paulina Luna. She's from Florida.
Speaker 2: She is a Republican, and she put out on X
Speaker 2: over the weekend. As soon as she gets back, the
Speaker 2: first thing she's going to do is file a motion
Speaker 2: to expel Swallowell from Congress.
Speaker 1: I mean, okay, we'll see how far this goes at
Speaker 1: some butt. Right now, it's fresh on everybody's mind. It's horrific.
Speaker 1: In the headlines, people are talking about it, so frankly,
Speaker 1: other politicians want to make sure with those headlines they
Speaker 1: get separated from this guy. Understood. They are really hesitant
Speaker 1: to kick out one of their own in Congress.
Speaker 2: I know, we initially heard some folks are going to
Speaker 2: bring censure. There are different ways to punish lawmakers, but yes,
Speaker 2: to actually expel a lawmaker from Congress.
Speaker 3: That is as serious as it gets.
Speaker 1: And I know in the hit I can't remember the
Speaker 1: last one, and then the history, it's got to be
Speaker 1: a single digits. It's got to be on one hand
Speaker 1: the number of times this just happened in Robes. I
Speaker 1: kind of I really do understand that, because you don't
Speaker 1: want to overturn the will of the voters. They put
Speaker 1: this guy in. This is their guy. If they got
Speaker 1: a problem with him, let them vote them out. We
Speaker 1: shouldn't do it on their behalf.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 2: Well, according to the Internet six members only six members
Speaker 2: of the US House of Representatives and one Senator have
Speaker 2: ever been expelled in US history. The most recent was
Speaker 2: I forgot about this, George Santos from New York in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty three for fraud and campaign finances. This recent, yes,
Speaker 2: and then James traffickan from Ohio Democrat in two thousand
Speaker 2: and two for corruption. Michael Myers, well that's a name.
Speaker 2: A Democrat in Pennsylvania in nineteen eighty for bribery.
Speaker 1: Okay, Well, these after post convictions that I'm not sure
Speaker 1: traffic can't for whatever reason I think, was.
Speaker 3: Corruption, fraud and campaign.
Speaker 1: Finally, it's rare because what happens then Robes, It's like, oops,
Speaker 1: they are they going to come after me for any
Speaker 1: little thing I do? You don't want to do that?
Speaker 3: And Robes.
Speaker 1: How many members of Congress do we know of right
Speaker 1: now are facing something pretty serious or.
Speaker 3: Have done something similar. Let's just be honest, but.
Speaker 1: We got a handful. We talk about the numbers in Congress. Okay,
Speaker 1: let's play this. What did they do last time? Redistricting
Speaker 1: Texas wants to do it now? California do it now?
Speaker 1: In another state? Trying to balance it out? Okay, you
Speaker 1: want to kick out one of our Democrats. You know what,
Speaker 1: there's a poorly behaving Republican over here. So now you're
Speaker 1: going to start messing with the numbers to kick each
Speaker 1: other out to balance your numbers. Robes, that's going to
Speaker 1: be a tough hill to climb. But it's also going
Speaker 1: to be difficult right now to be in Congress in
Speaker 1: a mid term election year and said, yeah, a guy
Speaker 1: accused a rape and I voted to keep him in Congress.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you can't sit on the sidelines, and you don't
Speaker 2: want to be on the wrong side of things. That
Speaker 2: is certainly true record, Dave, I had not even thought of.
Speaker 2: Of course, the balance of the House is more important
Speaker 2: than any one congressman and any one young former staff
Speaker 2: who claimed she was raped by him. That's just the
Speaker 2: truth of the matter, as sad as it is.
Speaker 1: What was the President talking about not long ago one
Speaker 1: guy was Member Cony's was really really ill and that
Speaker 1: he was only given this horrible diagnosis and they thought
Speaker 1: he might die, and the President stepped in, we don't
Speaker 1: need him to die because I need his vote.
Speaker 3: You remember that, say that was recent, This was in
Speaker 3: the last few weeks.
Speaker 1: Yes, so that's what I'm saying, Ropes, It's not so
Speaker 1: sure they gonna kick one of the people.
Speaker 2: Out, by the way, when we were talking about just
Speaker 2: well and to your point about how important the balance
Speaker 2: of Congress is and why for that reason alone, probably
Speaker 2: we don't see expulsions of congressmen and women.
Speaker 3: Do you know for the I said there were six,
Speaker 3: you had to go back.
Speaker 2: To eighteen sixty one for the other three members because
Speaker 2: they were expelled for supporting the Confederacy. That's how I
Speaker 2: just for perspective, that rises to the level that is
Speaker 2: where we are, and that's how high of a bar.
Speaker 2: Sometimes things have to be said. And how far we
Speaker 2: had to go back to see a single digit number
Speaker 2: of congressmen and women face expulsion.
Speaker 1: But we wait to hear from him when we're going
Speaker 1: to hear it. He is not just running a campaign
Speaker 1: at all right now. He's finding a defense attorney right now.
Speaker 1: He is managing his family, the immediate one in the house,
Speaker 1: but he is managing in laws, He's managing grandparents, He's
Speaker 1: managing aunts and uncles and everybody else. He's managing his kids,
Speaker 1: school teachers, all of these people are impacted now by
Speaker 1: what's going on. He is not running for California governor
Speaker 1: right now.
Speaker 3: You know, you don't think about it.
Speaker 2: It's so interesting you put that because you think about
Speaker 2: him being political and him thinking about his business, and
Speaker 2: imagine him as a husband, a father, a son in law.
Speaker 2: All of those things are happening, and those I'm sure
Speaker 2: have become suddenly way more important than any.
Speaker 3: Political career he thought he had.
Speaker 2: That is, there's a human element to this that you
Speaker 2: know is going on behind the scenes. But obviously this
Speaker 2: story is far far from over. Congress back in tomorrow
Speaker 2: that will be a telling time. Will he even be
Speaker 2: in DC at that point, will he even come back?
Speaker 2: You're looking at me like, hell, now, how is.
Speaker 1: You going to show his face right now in the
Speaker 1: halls of Congress. You can't do that. He's going to
Speaker 1: be sitting at a table alone in the lunch room.
Speaker 1: I mean, what is he supposed to do it he
Speaker 1: comes back, He's got other things to handle right now.
Speaker 1: And Robes in the midst of all this, and this
Speaker 1: conversation we're having is always robes that he said, she said,
Speaker 1: these about the balance of power, about men behaving badly,
Speaker 1: and about alcohol. Rose, there's a different conversation. And we know,
Speaker 1: as you're listening here, there's a conversation you're probably having
Speaker 1: at home or maybe with your friends, with your girlfriends
Speaker 1: in particular, and maybe some people are having with their daughters. Robes.
Speaker 1: That's a very difficult conversation that you and I were
Speaker 1: very much interested in getting into.
Speaker 2: Yes, and so please, as we wrap up this episode,
Speaker 2: look for our next one, because we are going to
Speaker 2: be talking about this issue of he said, she said,
Speaker 2: and and how we feel about it, how the law
Speaker 2: may be changing around it, and yes, what we're telling
Speaker 2: our daughters. So look for that. But In the meantime,
Speaker 2: thank you for listening to us. We always appreciate you.
Speaker 2: I'm made roboch alongside TJ.
Speaker 3: Holmes. We will talk to you very soon.