Disgraced former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., paid one of his attorneys over $360,000 combined from his congressional and gubernatorial campaign accounts just weeks after dropping out of the gubernatorial race and resigning from Congress, a Fox News Digital review found.
A $50,000 payment, which was made on April 24 to celebrity lawyer Sara Azari for “Legal [and] Accounting Services,” raises questions about what the payment was for and whether Swalwell was intending to try to salvage his public image amid the sexual abuse allegations that had derailed his gubernatorial campaign and ultimately cost him his congressional seat. The payment came 11 days after he resigned from Congress.
Three other payments appear to have been made by Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign the following month to Azari, including a $250,000 payment in early May for “campaign legal compliance,” according to California state records.
After weeks of allegations circulating on social media, bombshell reporting from CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle forced Democrats to reckon with allegations from several women, who provided detailed accounts of how Swalwell had allegedly pursued intoxicated women, pressured employees into intimate situations and asked for explicit images from female contacts.
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The allegations immediately took their toll.
In the aftermath, even as high-ranking Democrats pulled their support for Swalwell, Azari, who runs a law office with locations in Los Angeles and New York, was one of the few voices to defend Swalwell after his resignation.
“The fact that, you know, a day later, years later, or whatnot, you maybe had shame around what you did, or maybe you were in a relationship and shouldn’t have done what you did, doesn’t make it rape,” Azari said in an interview with NewsNation.
She also released a long statement defending Swalwell on X in April, claiming the “timing, nature, and coordinated rollout of these vile and heinous allegations speak for themselves.”
“This is a ruthless and shameless attempt to smear Congressman Swalwell,” she added.
Notably, Swalwell apologized for past “mistakes” in his resignation announcement despite denying the allegations.
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“I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegations made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make,” Swalwell said in a statement.
Azari said she admired Swalwell for confronting the allegations and for removing himself from Congress — as well as the race for governor.
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“I think it demonstrates a tremendous amount of accountability, not because he’s done these things and he’s stepping down, but because how could he properly defend himself and represent his constituency with these serious allegations pending,” she added.
Swalwell is facing criminal investigations in New York and Los Angeles in addition to a Justice Department inquiry into alleged sexual misconduct.
Azari did not respond to questions about the payments or what services it covered.
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