Disgraced Rep. Eric Swalwell allegedly raped a former staffer in New York City after taking the stage at an anti-gun violence gala he attended with the victim, The Post has learned.
Swalwell and his former aide were guests at the annual Brady Action Awards in Midtown on April 25, 2024, where the congressman was a guest speaker among other dignitaries, according to sources and a CNN report.
Swalwell was listed among the “awardees, special guests, and host committee members” at the event, held at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in Manhattan and hosted by director Judd Apatow.
After The Post reached out to the Brady organization seeking comment, the press release listing Swalwell alongside other luminaries including Sen. Chuck Schumer, actor Bradley Whitford and comedian W. Kamau Bell was conspicuously taken offline.
Video of the event was also completely scrubbed from the anti-gun advocacy group’s YouTube page, which left the streams of the 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025 events available for viewing at the time of writing.
A Google search cache references the 54-minute and 45-second video from the 2024 event as previously existing, but there is no corresponding live link.
CNN mentioned viewing the video and seeing photos of Swalwell and the former staffer together at the gala, but didn’t specify what event they were attending.
Brady did not provide a comment or any explanation when pressed for a statement. However, the organization was one of the first to call for Swalwell to resign on April 11 as the firestorm of accusations reached critical mass.
“We unequivocally believe the courageous women who have shared their experiences of sexual harassment and assault by Rep. Eric Swalwell. The detailed reporting of their accounts makes strikingly clear that Swalwell is unfit for office,” Brady said in the statement.
“There is only one right response: Eric Swalwell must resign from Congress and drop out of the California governor’s race now.”
The former staffer claimed Swalwell sexually assaulted her in September 2019 — when she got drunk and woke up naked in his hotel bed. She alleged he raped her at a New York City hotel after she’d stopped working for the congressman’s office.
The former staffer, who was 25 at the time, told the outlet she met the married congressman for drinks after the event, when he drunkenly confessed he was “obsessed” with her, and proclaimed he had never cheated on his wife — except with her.
The two bar-hopped, and continued drinking until she was “heavily intoxicated” and told the outlet she doesn’t remember leaving the last bar before they ended up at a hotel.
She claimed the next thing she knew, she was in bed with Swalwell “having sex with her,” and claims he persisted despite repeatedly pushing him off her.
One of the text messages the alleged victim sent two friends said “I was sexually assaulted on Thursday,” CNN reported — the 2024 Brady Action Awards were held on Thursday, April 25, 2024.
This year’s Brady Action Awards will be held Tuesday and emceed by Michael Urie of AppleTV’s “Shrinking.” It will be attended by speakers and honorees including lefty journalist Jonathan Capehart and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
On the day of the 2024 gala, Swalwell posted an anti-gun, pro-abortion message on his Instagram page, featuring an illustration of a handgun with the words “free to carry” and an image of a pregnant woman below the text “forced to carry.”
Swalwell has vehemently denied the mounting accusations against him, but suspended his campaign for California governor and resigned from Congress Tuesday.
“I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegation made against me. However I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make,” he wrote in a statement on X.
