California gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra faced scrutiny over his knowledge of former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s alleged sexual misconduct during Wednesday’s night’s California gubernatorial debate.
Becerra, who served as Health and Human Services secretary under former President Joe Biden, was asked about recent comments in which he said he had heard “rumors” of Swalwell’s actions. Swalwell dropped out of the California race and resigned from Congress over the scandal.
“Mr. Becerra, you were chair of the Democratic Caucus when Eric Swalwell was elected to Congress. You said in a recent interview that, quote, ‘Many of us heard the rumors.’ What rumors did you hear? And should you have pursued the rumors as a member of Democratic leadership?” NewsNation host Nikki Laurenzo asked.
“Thanks, Nikki. Yeah, you hear rumors all the time about all sorts of things. Rumors are not facts,” Becerra responded. “And the, the caucus, the Democratic caucus is not a place that adjudicates those things. It’s law enforcement that does. If someone had come forward, we could then have investigations.”
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The debate came as Swalwell was hit with a fresh ethics complaint urging the Justice Department to investigate whether he leveraged his position in Congress to promote a startup business he was running on the side with his chief of staff.
Swalwell has also been accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct in recent weeks, allegations he has denied despite conceding he has made poor choices in his past with women.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), a conservative ethics watchdog, filed a complaint Wednesday calling on the Justice Department’s Office of Congressional Conduct to investigate allegations Swalwell was personally pitching Findraiser, an artificial intelligence political fundraising tool, to Democratic lawmakers, staff and campaigns.
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Included in FACT’s complaint is Yardena Wolf, Swalwell’s former chief of staff and also the co-founder of Findraiser. Wolf eventually left her chief of staff role to lead Swalwell’s now defunct gubernatorial campaign.
Swalwell already is facing multiple investigations related to sexual misconduct allegations, including from the Los Angeles County District Attorney, Manhattan District Attorney and the Justice Department.
Prior to sexual misconduct allegations against him coming to light earlier in April, the former member of Congress also was facing heat for his behavior on Capitol Hill as it pertained to promoting Findraiser.
One Democratic operative reportedly told news outlet NOTUS that Swalwell was “peddling the s— out of” Findraiser on Capitol Hill.
NOTUS released a pair of reports in March, one of which cited Federal Election Commission data that showed the artificial intelligence-powered political fundraising tool was getting business from some of Swalwell’s longtime political allies, including Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.
Fox News’ Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.
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