Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) on Sunday expressed support for expelling two lawmakers from Congress who have been accused of sexual misconduct.
The sexual misconduct allegations from the two men’s former staffers have threatened to derail Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-CA) gubernatorial campaign in California, after he was accused of rape, and led Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) to drop his Texas bid for reelection in March after he disclosed an affair with a staffer, and as other advances were alleged. Both men are under investigation, whether by state prosecutors or House committees.
Jayapal confirmed this week that she would vote to expel both men from Congress should the matter come to the floor. The Washington Democrat also called on Swalwell, who has been accused of rape, and Gonzales to resign from office during the NBC News interview.
“I think that what we are seeing now is an emergence of women across the country who have been dismissed, told to shut up, told to move on, who have been abused by men in powerful positions,” she said. “This is clearly a pattern.”
“This is not a partisan issue. This cuts across party line, and it is depravity of the way that women have been treated. And I’m just inspired by the courage and the bravery of the women who came forward,” Jayapal continued. “I think we have to hold everybody accountable … that both of them need to step down from Congress and let these investigations happen.”
Swalwell, one of multiple Democrats running to become California’s next governor, has denied allegations from an ex-staffer who claimed he raped her twice. Three additional women have come forward with similar claims against Swalwell.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, led by Alvin Bragg, is now investigating Swalwell. A stream of Democrats, including Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), have called on Swalwell to drop out of the race and resign from Congress amid the allegations.
SWALWELL CALLS SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS ‘FLAT FALSE’ AND PROMISES TO ‘FIGHT’
Gonzales’s political career was also thrown for a loop earlier this year upon revelations that he had an affair with a former staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles, who later killed herself. Gonzales, who is married with six children, admitted to the affair and apologized in March. He has claimed the timing of the revelations was politically motivated. He has also denied being the cause of Santos-Aviles’s suicide, suggesting police records indicate his former staffer set herself on fire after learning that her husband was gay and having an affair with her best friend.
Gonzales remains under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over the incident. Controversy surrounding the Texas lawmaker further ballooned in April, when newly released text messages appeared to show he made unsolicited sexual advances toward his campaign’s political director in 2020.