California Post89%
Exclusive | Eric Swalwell filmed rape denial video at lavish mansion of eccentric billionaire — who is in a relationship with alleged honeytrap burglar 61%
By Josh Koehn0%
4/11/2026, 9:56:00 PM
Topics: Politics
BS Summary: This article contains 32 faulty reasoning types, including Biased Writer Voice, Unattributed Quote, and Appeal to Emotion, with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 55.3% saturation with 438 hits. Analysis detected 2,359 faulty-reasoning hits from 792 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 56.7% and a BS Rank of 61% (6,670 of 16,813 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 60.30% of the article peer group.
Rep.
Eric Swalwell denied allegations of rape and sexual assault in a social media post that was filmed Friday at the Beverly Hills mansion of his eccentric billionaire benefactor, The Post has learned.
Multiple sources confirmed that the video Swalwell recorded of his full-throated denial was taken from a room inside the 9,700-square-foot home of Stephen Cloobeck, who's also been shacking up with an alleged honeytrapper accused of burglarizing the home of rich, older men in Los Angeles.
“A lot has been said about me today through anonymous allegations, and I thought it was important that you see and hear from me directly,” Swalwell said in the video posted Friday from Cloobeck's mansion.
“These allegations of sexual assault are flat out false.”
He added, “They have never happened.
And I will fight them with everything that I have.”
Until Friday, Swalwell was the Democratic frontrunner in the California governor's race, but his campaign has been in a free-fall since the allegations surfaced.
Within hours of the San Francisco Chronicle publishing a bombshell report of a former staffer accusing Swalwell of sexual assault, numerous elected officials and labor unions yanked their endorsements and fundraising operations were shuttered.
CNN followed up with its own report Friday afternoon that included four women with allegations against Swalwell that included rape, sexual assault and other sexual misconduct.
In the clip of Swalwell speaking to the camera to issue his denial, he appeared to be wearing a light blue dress shirt nearly identical to the one he wore at a town hall Tuesday night in Sacramento, marking his last campaign event before the claims came to light.
He also admitted to indiscretions in the video, saying “those mistakes are between me and my wife and to her I apologize deeply.”
At the town hall on Tuesday, The Post explicitly asked Swalwell if he ever had a sexual relationship with a staff or an intern.
“No, no, no, no,” he responded.
Swalwell has received Cloobeck's support in the form of campaign money, as the timeshare mogul has dropped more than $1 million backing the congressman's candidacy for governor.
He also received a $31,000 trip to France from the billionaire.
It now appears the pair has turned Cloobeck's palatial estate — valued at $26 million and featuring six bedrooms, seven bathrooms and a tennis court — into a war room-style command center.
The Post previosuly reported that Swalwell was missing votes in Congress while posting videos of himself inside the mansion, which will also soon become the home of Adva Lavie, a former Penthouse Pet and Israeli OnlyFans model who is engaged to Cloobeck and pleaded not guilty Monday to felony charges for burglary.
Neither Swalwell's campaign nor Cloobeck responded to requests for comment Saturday.
One source who worked on Swalwell's campaign confirmed the video was shot in Cloobeck's mansion, and he has since gone missing in action as staffers quit in droves.
“We're trying to help the staff, people who are new and cared and believed and put their professional lives on the line,” the source said.
“They went to work for someone who has horribly let them down.”
The campaign source told The Post compared Swalwell to the fictional character story of Dr.
Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde, as Swalwell can be polite and friendly but has now been accused of having a dark side.
“Everyone is just kind of reeling on this, and he's off on his own doing whatever,” the source said.
Senior staffers for both Swalwell's campaign and his congressional office issued a joint statement Saturday saying they were “horrified” by the allegations.
“The behavior detailed in these reports is abhorrent, beneath the dignity of those serving in public office and betrays the trust of all Californians,” they wrote.
“Any decision of staff members to remain in their roles in the interim should not be viewed as support for Eric Swalwell.”
David Latterman, a political analyst in San Francisco, said that Swalwell 's campaign is like a “dead man walking.”
Many of Swalwell's Democratic allies in Congress — from House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries to former speaker Rep.
Nancy Pelosi — have called for an investigation and for Swalwell to drop out of the governor's race.
Others have called on Swalwell to resign from Congress, and the Manhattan District Attorney's office announced it was launching a criminal investigation into a woman's claims that Swalwell raped her in 2024.
“In an interview Friday night with CNN, Swalwell's attorney Elias Dabaie said his client was too busy to speak with the media, as the congressman was spending time with his wife, family and friends.”
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