Free Republic

Congressman Eric Swalwell’s senior staff have said they are “horrified” by sexual misconduct allegations made against him. “As leaders of teams working for Eric Swalwell, we’re horrified by the recent reporting in the San Francisco Chronicle and by CNN,” a statement signed by staffers for Swalwell’s 14th congressional district and the “Eric Swalwell for Governor 2026” campaign read on Saturday, April 11. “We stand with our former colleague, and the other women who have come forward. We believe you should stand with them, too.” His staff went on, “The behavior detailed in these reports is abhorrent, beneath the dignity of...

Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell’s bid for California governor continues to be plagued by an exodus of staffers and supporters, following a series of sexual misconduct allegations against the congressman. Since the allegations first emerged this week, multiple campaign aides have resigned and nearly every endorsement has been rescinded, with several leading Democratic figures calling for him to drop out of the race. Swalwell has called the allegations against him “flat false,” and alleged that these were timed to disrupt his campaign. Newsweek contacted the campaign via email outside of regular working hours for comment. Why It Matters Before the allegations...

A year after threatening to “dramatically” downsize the operations of San Francisco’s Presidio, President Donald Trump has terminated the park’s board of trustees. The six trustees, who were all appointed by former President Joe Biden, received letters of termination on Wednesday. The Presidio Trust still has not been informed if new trustees have been appointed. “The Administration has informed our board members that their appointments to the Presidio Trust board have been terminated,” the trust said in a statement to the Chronicle. “We had been anticipating that we would ultimately receive new board members and are awaiting information on the...

Rome is one of the most famous cities in history. But it did not rise in an empty land. Before empire, before marble, before the Roman world takes over the map, central Italy is already crowded with graves, hilltop communities, powerful neighbors, painted tombs, and cities of the dead. This episode explores the older world that shaped Rome before Rome shaped the Mediterranean. This map-based history documentary covers early Rome and central Italy from 800 to 500 BC, including Villanovan culture, hut urns, Veii, Tarquinia, Cerveteri, Pyrgi, Pontecagnano, and the growth of Rome in the 6th century BC. Using archaeology,...

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...

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) says she will force a House floor vote next week on removing embattled Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) from Congress following stunning sexual assault allegations against him – saying she won’t serve with “sexual deviants.” Luna made the comment to Fox News on Saturday, a day after a former unidentified staffer said he sexually assaulted her on two occasions while she was intoxicated, including at a 2024 charity gala in New York. “I hate having to be kind of the hall monitor of Congress if you will, but it’s gotten really bad,” she said. “Eric has...

Ethnic humour has become one of those things we don't do well anymore, or simply won't do because nobody wants to lose their job. Back when it was still tolerated – about fifteen or twenty years ago – what was left of ethnic humour (as practiced by comics like Dave Chappelle or Chris Rock) was gatekept by a single, unbreakable rule: you can only make an ethnic joke if you're a member of the ethnicity that's the butt of the joke. Now, of course, this is largely off the table because nobody thinks the risk is worth it anymore. I...

Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell has been accused of violating immigration and employment law to keep his illegal live-in Brazilian nanny in the country, according to a pair of recently filed complaints. When his South American babysitter’s temporary work authorization was about to expire in 2022, he and wife Brittany Swalwell lied to the feds to keep Amanda Barbosa working for them, a new complaint filed Tuesday with the Department of Labor claimed. Another complaint, filed to the Department of Homeland security in February and previously unreported, accuses Swalwell of paying the nanny under the table with campaign funds for a...

Visitors to Rome's Colosseum now have a new chance to step back into history thanks to a renovation project that's unearthed several entrance columns that have been buried for hundreds of years. Italy’s most iconic landmark has been given a remarkable new look. The Colosseum in Rome has undergone a major restoration, revealing parts of its original structure that have been hidden for centuries. New travertine marble blocks have been installed outside the arena, marking where grand entrance columns once stood. The project restores the monument’s perimeter and highlights details long buried underground, including original entrance numbers that guided spectators...

Spanish police recovered a 17th-century velvet guild manuscript that had been missing for a century after spotting it for sale online. The artefact will remain the property of its current owner, but it will now be conserved. The manuscript is a copy of ordinances signed in 1479 by Ferdinand the Catholic that elevated velvet-making from a trade to an art, granting the velvet-makers privileges and social recognition. Agents from the Heritage Group of the National Police Unit assigned to the Valencian Community found the document during routine monitoring of online sales of cultural goods, police said in a statement. The...

Former vice president and failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris was roasted online Friday after she introduced another accent while trying to impersonate President Donald Trump as a "mob boss." "You know, the way that he's thinking of foreign policy, it seems, is when he talks about America First, it's to withdraw from these relationships and these connections," Harris said while arguing that the administration has lost sight of international cooperation as a means to address regional conflict. "And then he kind of acts like a mob boss. So, then he's kind of like, 'Oh, well, you know, you take Eastern...

Published in the April 3 edition of the Santa Fe New Mexican. Below text from NMOGA website I grew up in Carlsbad. I went away for college, but I came back as quickly as I could. Coming home was always the goal, and I’m proud to be back. I love this state. I love its people, its landscape and its stubborn independence. The oil and gas industry I represent is made up of people just like me: New Mexicans who were born here, who raised families here, who chose to build their lives and livelihoods here. So, I’ll confess that...

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office announced on Saturday that it is launching an investigation into California Rep. Eric Swalwell, over an alleged sexual assault involving a former staffer in 2024, according to a new report. Swalwell’s former staffer — who has not been identified — told CNN that after a night of drinking with her former boss in April 2024, she was heavily intoxicated and woke up to him having sex with her in his hotel bed. “I was pushing him off of me, saying no,” the woman told the outlet. “He didn’t stop.” The staffer — who is one...

Hollywood support for Eric Swalwell, who is currently leading a crowded field of Democratic candidates vying to become California governor remains steady — at least for now — despite rumors of inappropriate behavior with female staffers that have been swirling around the 45-year-old congressman for weeks. A fundraiser scheduled for April 18 which is being held at the home of producer David Miner and his wife Jennifer is moving forward. That event costs $250 for ‘guests’ and goes up to $10,000 for anyone seeking ‘host’ status. According to an invite, the event’s host committee includes lit agent and manager Lucy...

Embattled Rep. Eric Swalwell on Friday night issued a full-throated denial of sexual misconduct and rape allegations leveled against him, calling them “absolutely false” while issuing an apology to his wife. “These allegations of sexual assault are flat false,” the Democratic candidate for California governor said in a more than minute-long video on social media. “They are absolutely false. They did not happen. They have never happened. And I will fight them with everything I have.” Swalwell was forced to swat down scathing allegations of sexual misconduct brought by four women this week — including a former staffer who claims...

Discover the story behind Beethoven’s revolutionary ‘Eroica’ Symphony No. 3 – an extraordinary masterpiece which changed the musical world.Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E flat major, the ‘Eroica’ Symphony, changed the musical world and is perhaps his defining work. At a stroke, orchestral music moves into another dimension with a breadth of conception and emotional freight and range beyond anything previously dreamed of. Beethoven originally dedicated his ‘Eroica’ Symphony to Napoleon –but removed his name in a rage on hearing he had made himself Emperor. The symphony’s first public performance took place on April 7, 1805 at the Theater an...

Staffers for Eric Swalwell — a Democratic favorite in the California governor’s race — are reportedly fleeing as a disturbing claims emerged he sexually assaulted a young former staffer. At least four people have “abruptly” quit the East Bay congressman’s flailing campaign as a disturbing claim emerged that he sexually assaulted a young female staffer in 2019, including when she was too intoxicated to consent, Politico reported. That includes Courtni Pugh, a top advisor in charge of Swalwell’s organized labor strategy, and multiple other staffers. The campaign departures come alongside a troubling report in the San Francisco Chronicle alleging that...

A former staffer for Rep. Eric Swalwell has reportedly accused the congressman of sexual assault and taking advantage of her over the course of several years — allegations the Democratic frontrunner for California governor is denying as false and politically motivated. The woman, who worked for Swalwell for nearly two years, said the most serious incident occurred in April 2024, when she alleges he sexually assaulted her after a charity gala in New York, according to a report published Friday by the San Francisco Chronicle. The woman, who was not named in the story, said she became heavily intoxicated while...

The Defund the Police movement lives on in the LA City Council, only now it flies under the banner of democratic control. The council’s most left-wing members seek to transfer crime-fighting authority from law enforcement experts to the council and the city controller. These would-be police overlords might want to familiarize themselves with the agency that they aspire to run. They would learn that the LAPD sets a national standard of professionalism and restraint. According to The California Post, council members Hugo Soto-Martinez, Eunisses Hernandez, and Nithya Raman want the power to override the LAPD police chief and the civilian...

In 2001, in southeastern Iran, the Halil Roud river shifted its course, revealing traces of an unknown civilization long buried beneath the sands of the Iranian plateau. The inhabitants of the Jiroft region were the first to clandestinely extract a vast number of ancient artifacts dated to the 3rd millennium BC: carved vases, symbolic figures, and ritual objects. This priceless treasure fueled international smuggling circuits before Iranian authorities launched a rescue operation. This documentary follows archaeologists in their investigation of this forgotten civilization and explores the fascinating hypothesis: could this city be Aratta, the mythical metropolis mentioned in the oldest...