Eric Swalwell drops another $50K on celebrity lawyer — as investigators circle

Disgraced ex-Rep. Eric Swalwell’s zombie congressional campaign has dwindled to just over $11,000 after he coughed up another $50,000 to celebrity defense attorney Sara Azari and refunded nearly $190,000 to donors following his epic career collapse following sexual assault allegations.

The details were documented this week in new federal campaign filings and come as California ethics investigators continue probing more than $300,000 in payments made to Azari from Swalwell’s failed gubernatorial campaign — raising fresh questions about the disgraced Democrat’s mounting legal bills as his political career continues to unravel.

Swalwell’s federal campaign filings, which list him as treasurer, paint the picture of a committee rapidly running out of money.

The committee refunded $189,681 to contributors during the second quarter of the year while spending another $106,427 on operating expenses, leaving the once well-funded operation with barely enough cash to cover another month of recurring bills.

Swalwell also reported $17,893.35 in previously unreported or uncashed checks. He admitted in a separate filing to the Federal Election Commission that nobody still involved with the campaign knows who received the money — or what it was for.

The Post previously reported on Swalwell’s 100-plus booze delivery charges on the campaign’s dime.

“We have been unable to determine who these checks were written to, for how much, and for what purpose,” the committee wrote in a filing with the Federal Election Commission, adding that the campaign’s former treasurer died in 2023 and took the records with him. The campaign said the entries were made simply to reconcile and close long-abandoned bank accounts. 

Swalwell’s payment to Azari — who is defending him against allegations of rape and sexual assault — could attract additional scrutiny because the California Fair Political Practices Commission is already investigating whether Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign illegally used donor money to pay Azari after the scandal erupted.

Neither Swalwell nor Azari responded to requests for comment.

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Swalwell’s stunning political collapse began in April after the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN published allegations from multiple women accusing the former East Bay congressman of rape, sexual assault and other misconduct. Swalwell has denied the allegations while acknowledging what he described as “mistakes in judgment.”

He suspended his campaign for governor on April 12 before resigning from Congress days later.

Swalwell’s congressional committee continued paying routine expenses, including bills to Apple and Verizon Wireless, but a $165 charge to Starlink — using Elon Musk’s SpaceX service to keep the phones and internet connected — had people making jokes on social media.

Campaign finance documentarian Rob Pyers quipped that Swalwell — who has not been publicly spotted in months — purchased a Starlink subscription “presumably for internet/TV access in whatever remote location he’s holed up in.”

Swalwell may not be entirely broke when it comes to campaign money, though.

Campaign finance records showed Swalwell’s dormant gubernatorial committee was still sitting on more than $2.6 million as of late May.