Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) donated $19,000 that he had received from former Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell’s campaign to an Arizona nonprofit organization focused on preventing sexual and domestic violence.
Gallego made the donation to the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence in early May, about a month after Swalwell resigned from Congress, according to FEC filings released Wednesday. The donation came after allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against Swalwell, which he has denied.
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Gallego and Swalwell became close allies and friends during their decade together in the House. In April, four women, including a former congressional staffer, accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct and assault. The former staffer alleged that Swalwell raped her twice. Swalwell denied the allegations, suspended his campaign for California governor, and resigned from Congress shortly after the allegations became public.
“My friendship with him, our family’s friendship together with him, clouded my judgment, and I was wrong — I deeply, deeply regret that,” Gallego told reporters at a Capitol Hill news conference.
“My family and his family were as close as it gets,” Gallego said. “Our kids were in baseball camp together. We had dinner together as a family.”
Gallego, who won his Senate seat in 2024 and is reportedly considering a 2028 presidential bid, is also under investigation by the Department of Justice over alleged campaign finance violations. A Gallego spokesperson accused President Donald Trump last month of using “the most weaponized Department of Justice in history” to target the senator while “turning a blind eye to Trump’s unprecedented corruption.
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“It’s the least surprising news of the week that this comes immediately after the Senate Ethics Committee cleared Senator Gallego of right-wing smears pushed by the administration,” the spokesperson said.
According to recent campaign finance filings, Gallego’s former congressional campaign committee refunded roughly $200,000 in political contributions after he ended his gubernatorial campaign and resigned from Congress.