Closing summary
This concludes our coverage of US politics for the day, thanks for reading. Here are the latest developments:
Congressman Eric Swalwell’s campaign to succeed Gavin Newsom as California’s governor imploded after he was accused of sexual assault by a woman who worked for the congressman in interviews with the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN.
In response to the reports, and three more women alleging sexual misconduct by Swalwell, multiple staffers resigned from Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign, and leading California Democrats called on him to drop out of the race.
Among those calling for Swalwell to end his campaign for California governor were the state’s lieutenant governor Eleni Kounalakis, the former Democratic House speaker Nancy Pelosi, both of California’s Democratic senators, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, the House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, the other leading Democrats in the race, Katie Porter and Tom Steyer and former backers including Arizona senator Ruben Gallego and the powerful California Teachers Association.
Cheyenne Hunt, a Democratic party activist and influencer with more than 200,000 followers on Instagram, who used her platform to spread accusations of sexual misconduct by Swalwell, called the Chronicle report just “the first of many”.
Updated
Katie Porter calls on Swalwell to resign from Congress and end his campaign for governor
Katie Porter, the former congresswoman fighting to make it into the top two in the June nonpartisan primary for California governor, released a statement calling on Eric Swalwell, a fellow Democrat, to drop out of the race and resign his seat in Congress over allegations by four women that he sexually assaulted or abused them.
“In light of the allegations of sexual assault, Eric Swalwell should resign from Congress and end his campaign for public office,” Porter wrote on social media Friday evening. “But those decisions do not absolve him of taking responsibility for his misconduct, especially when he has attempted to silence and retaliate against these victims.”
“These allegations merit full investigations, and these women deserve the right to pursue justice. Too often, men escape any consequence for sexual misconduct by stepping out of power,” Porter continued. “That is a first and necessary step towards justice because it limits the ability for further harm. I stand with these women as they seek justice.”
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