A resurfaced “party yacht” video is drawing fresh attention to California Democrat Eric Swalwell, appearing to show him relaxing in a bathrobe aboard a luxury vessel in September 2022—just as he now acknowledges he made “mistakes.” Swalwell, a congressman from the state’s 14th Congressional District, announced on Monday he would be resigning his congressional seat amid s-xual assault allegations, the New York Times reports.
Eric Swalwell was a top contender in the race to succeed Gavin Newsom as governor of California, until four women accused him of s-xual misconduct on Friday. The 45-year-old politician is now facing probes from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York and the House Ethics Committee. In response, Eric Swalwell also stepped down from the governor’s race,
BREAKING: New video from July 2022 has emerged showing Rep. Eric Swalwell living it up on a yacht in St. Tropez with Nik Richie and a large group of women.
He’s spotted twice, dressed only in a robe.
The women were reportedly “replaced” with fresh women at some point and all… pic.twitter.com/NskPzHkjcs
— The Patriot Oasis™ (@ThePatriotOasis) April 14, 2026
Swalwell has denied any wrongdoing and says he plans to contest the allegations. A video obtained by social media outlets appears to show Eric Swalwell on a yacht off the coast of St. Tropez. Two buddies flew from Las Vegas to the French Riviera on a private jet and rented the 200-foot Arience yacht, sources told Page Six. They then invited Swalwell to join them on their voyage.
Swalwell arrived separately on a commercial flight and joined three or four other men and several young women dancing on deck throughout the video, sources said. One woman, reportedly a British teen, was romantically linked to one of the men on board, sources said. Sources added that the other women — British and American females who were described as older — didn’t appear to know each other or the men.
“The people on the boat were told to keep it hush-hush about Swalwell being on the trip,” one insider claimed, noting the excursion lasted about a week. “They were told everything stays on the boat.”
Hear it directly from me. These allegations are flat false. And I will fight them. pic.twitter.com/bQSlCquD1U
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) April 11, 2026
Another source familiar with the trip claimed Eric Swalwell “didn’t seem like a politician.” “More like president of a frat house,” the source added. Insiders alleged that some of the women involved were taken back to shore during the trip and replaced by others. They spent time jet skiing, drinking and relaxing on deck. Alcohol was plentiful.
An unnamed former staffer has accused the married Eric Swalwell of r-ping her twice—once in 2019 and again in 2024—alleging she was too intoxicated to give consent in both instances. Speaking to CNN, the woman said that after a night of heavy drinking in New York City in April 2024, she woke up in Swalwell’s hotel bed to find him having s-x with her. “I was pushing him off of me, saying no,” she claimed, noting the alleged encounter occurred after she had already left his office. “He didn’t stop.”
In the wake of the allegations, other women, including Washington, D.C.-based political content creator Ally Sammarco, 28, came forward with their own accounts. Sammarco alleged that Eric Swalwell would send her “drunk text” messages, along with photos of himself in bed or shirtless, and even n-de images. “I truly never thought he would respond – I had like 1,000 followers at the time,” she told CNN. “And he responded.”
She claimed that the two began talking frequently and eventually gave each other phone numbers and began texting every day. Another woman accused Swalwell of kissing her and touching her leg without consent. She also claimed that she later woke up n-ked in his hotel room without knowing whose room it was at first and said she still suffers flashbacks of him grabbing her as she told him “no.”
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office opened a rapid investigation into the explosive report while the House Ethics Committee announced Monday that it is investigating the allegations against the high-profile Democrat as well. Sammarco said Swalwell initially contacted her in 2021 to talk about politics, but she alleged things quickly took a turn.
She claimed the congressman “became very inappropriate, like saying about how hot he thought I was, insinuating we should get together and hook up. I thought I was the only one that had this experience with him,” she told NBC. “These people have authority, and they’re abusing it. I want to validate what these women are saying, and I feel like he needs a public reckoning in some way, or he’s just going to continue doing this.”
When announcing he was halting his run for governor, Eric Swalwell expressed regret over past decisions. He said he was “deeply sorry for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegations that have been made — but that’s my fight, not a campaign’s,” he added. “However, I must take responsibility for the mistakes I did make,” he said in a statement.
He also addressed growing calls for his removal, cautioning against rushing to judgment without proper procedure. Forcing an expulsion vote “within days of an allegation being made,” he said, would be inappropriate. “But it’s also wrong for my constituents to have me distracted from my duties,” he continued. “Therefore, I plan to resign my seat in Congress.”
Eric Swalwell stated that he would spend the coming days coordinating with his staff to ensure his district remains properly represented after his departure.
