FBI Raids Swalwell's Home, Seizes Devices In Sexual Assault Investigation: Reports

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Federal agents raided the home of ex-Congressman Eric Swalwell over the weekend in connection with a civil rights investigation into accusations of sexual assault against the embattled East Bay politician, according to the New York Times.

Swalwell was stopped at San Francisco International Airport on Saturday and was forced to give up his devices to federal agents armed with a warrant, according to the New York Times report.

Agents then searched his Washington, D.C., home on Sunday, according to an ABC7 report.

Swalwell, who spent more than a decade representing California's 14th Congressional District, was a frontrunner to become California's governor before sexual assault allegations upended his political career. He's denied the claims, saying they were politically motivated.

He's since been the target of an ongoing probe in connection with the accusations, according to CNN.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, however, have opened criminal investigations against the politician in the wake of the accusations.

Alameda County prosecutors earlier this year said that despite the accusations against Swalwell, they have not opened a criminal investigation against him because no victim has come forward.

The search also came in the days before the White House released declassified documents where Swalwell admitted in a 2016 interview with the FBI that he had a years-long sexual relationship with a woman suspected of being a Chinese spy.

Swalwell's lawyer, Sara Azari, told the Chronicle that "nothing new" was revealed in the documents and suggested they were being used to "punish an outspoken critic of the current administration."

The White House said it released the documents "as part of a broader effort to unmask foreign threats to U.S. political and election systems."