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Sympthsical

(11,035 posts)

81. Yep. Just like Weinstein and Ronan Farrow

Mon Apr 13, 2026, 10:49 AM

Apr 13

Rumors or knowledge swirling around for a period of time. Power and influence being used to shut it down from being "officially" public. Then someone hears about it and decides to dig - and victims or people with evidence are willing to go on record.

Boom. And the house of cards falls down.

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LeftInTX

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Eric Swalwell and the Death of Accountability [View all] Celerity Apr 13 OP

KNR niyad Apr 13 #1

Tribes protect valuable members. OC375 Apr 13 #2

It's California Bettie Apr 13 #4

Agreed. OC375 Apr 13 #5

Which makes the question posed in the article even more compelling. yardwork Apr 13 #12

If this was known Bettie Apr 13 #3

Yes. "Open Secret?" I certainly had not heard the rumblings but perhaps within the beltway... hlthe2b Apr 13 #6

"So, yeah. It appears the pump was fully primed on Friday within the circles who fully "knew" but amazing to me, did not WhiskeyGrinder Apr 13 #8

I Believe The Term Refers To Those Working With Or For Swalwell, Not "Us". ColoringFool Apr 13 #78

My daughter is a CA Dem delegate and a caucus chair, and she had never heard those rumors. deurbano Apr 13 #93

I concur. In this world there are "upstanders" snd Ninga Apr 13 #104

I have never come across any decent humans who are cheaters jfz9580m Apr 13 #124

Same here.... I guess 'open secret' meant within the House of Reps ONLY--- Jack Valentino Apr 13 #145

Exactly WSHazel Apr 13 #7

One of the reasons I didn't quite believe it at first Bettie Apr 13 #9

Madoff is the epitome of this behavior WSHazel Apr 13 #59

Broken stair analogy, plus organizations like to hold on to high performers, even when they're terrible people. WhiskeyGrinder Apr 13 #10

And the biggest missing stair in our politics happens to be President! (n/t) thesquanderer Apr 13 #94

Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered a son with the family's housekeeper, kept the child a secret while he was sop Apr 13 #11

The sad fact is that a lot of men get away with it. yardwork Apr 13 #16

Thank you jfz9580m Apr 13 #27

Just to be clear, a lot of the "wait and see" was about not SEEING all the facts yet RandomNumbers Apr 13 #28

Wait and see is one thing. yardwork Apr 13 #31

Yes, I agree with you on that point. RandomNumbers Apr 13 #35

It has helped me make a final decision jfz9580m Apr 13 #77

"Immediately blaming every woman in sight is something else." MorbidButterflyTat Apr 13 #123

Nope. I'm not calling out any DUer. yardwork Apr 13 #128

There was someone here yesterday asking what was expected if a drunk woman goes to a man's hotel room EdmondDantes_ Apr 13 #45

Should be asking, why would a responsible man RandomNumbers Apr 13 #67

More than one poster suggested that the bank accounts of the victims needed to be investigated MichMan Apr 13 #68

The question was MorbidButterflyTat Apr 13 #125

That's not the post I was referring to EdmondDantes_ Apr 13 #129

I have seen post, that in my opinion suggest voting for him Lifeafter70 Apr 13 #60

That's what stood out to me jfz9580m Apr 13 #82

It is VERY sad that a Democrat who has been so effective against Trump, Jack Valentino Apr 13 #146

Based on Arnold, obviously he had a good reason to think so. LisaL Apr 13 #62

I had no idea this was an open secret. Disgusting. Passages Apr 13 #13

People thought the party was taking crazy pills Sympthsical Apr 13 #14

I imagine the Republicans were hoping he'd be the nominee. yardwork Apr 13 #17

I still haven't heard a credible explanation from "The timing is suspicious!" crowd Sympthsical Apr 13 #19

There was a spontaneous eruption of that phrase on DU. yardwork Apr 13 #20

Hasn't hurt many of the GOP members samplegirl Apr 13 #15

The death of accountability is a good headline. yardwork Apr 13 #18

The difference between virtue signalling and actual virtue on full display Sympthsical Apr 13 #21

And every other woman in sight was blamed, too. yardwork Apr 13 #23

I think Katie Porter will actually be hurt by this Scrivener7 Apr 13 #25

Absolutely. She's getting the Hillary Clinton Kamala Harris treatment. yardwork Apr 13 #37

There's another element here. She's running against a man people liked a lot who turned out to be a dog. Scrivener7 Apr 13 #44

On the other hand - I suspect many Democratic voters will now see her as more of a sure bet peppertree Apr 13 #54

As a former CA member of the House, she was in karynnj Apr 13 #92

Probably true. Scrivener7 Apr 13 #102

OMG, nobody said anything like that on here. MorbidButterflyTat Apr 13 #135

She clearly is being hit on this karynnj Apr 13 #90

Tribal reaction. Dems are not immune from it. paleotn Apr 13 #49

Exactly! This is not a game, folks. paleotn Apr 13 #43

there's been nothing but accountability from the party and Dem supporters, including Swalwell's bigtree Apr 13 #143

nothing in that article backed up the claim that 'His sexual misconduct was an open secret' bigtree Apr 13 #22

It was very much an open secret Sympthsical Apr 13 #24

That's sad. I wonder if this was known more than locally? Many will blow it off as "just gossip" LeftInTX Apr 13 #32

Unfortunately, it seems to be considered 'acceptable' for men to behave like that RandomNumbers Apr 13 #33

For years. Incredible, one would imagine he was the only politician they could back. Passages Apr 13 #36

Why encourage him to run for governor? MorbidButterflyTat Apr 13 #132

"Everybody just turned a blind eye and went about their lives for years?" Sympthsical Apr 13 #137

Kevin MCarthy on CNN question everything Apr 13 #52

not one of the sources I'd trust for anything bigtree Apr 13 #85

Whatever else is true about how "known" Swalwell's behavior was, My Kevin is not a reliable reporter. deurbano Apr 13 #99

Kevin MCarthy??? MorbidButterflyTat Apr 13 #131

I noticed the word "misconduct" people knew of his "misconduct" and chose to ignore it. But "misconduct" has now Ninga Apr 13 #66

Stop blaming Nancy Pelosi. yardwork Apr 13 #79

Excuse me. There are "upstanders" and "bystanders" Ninga Apr 13 #107

Exactly. No matter their last name or gender. N/T AloeVera Apr 13 #120

"Inappropriate" behaviour by a person in power is grooming. AloeVera Apr 13 #119

Here is a possible explanation karynnj Apr 13 #96

it's not clear anyone knew except the people claiming it was well known bigtree Apr 13 #121

Just because you didn't know... Random Boomer Apr 13 #100

internet gossip bigtree Apr 13 #122

There is this tweet from Dec 2025 LeftInTX Apr 13 #26

great reply Celerity Apr 13 #29

what did he do with that information bigtree Apr 13 #41

The answer is right in the article. Nanjeanne Apr 13 #47

more background as well Celerity Apr 13 #57

He's an interesting read. Did you see this one? Sympthsical Apr 13 #69

I figured as much. Unless Becerra finds rocket fuel and blows up out of his months-long 2 to 5 per cent level, it looks, Celerity Apr 13 #88

I see the problem with Becerra Sympthsical Apr 13 #97

"...what did both of these men do other than this political chit-chat on social media?" WhiskeyGrinder Apr 13 #48

that's still just conjecture bigtree Apr 13 #86

Because the victims had to come forward Sympthsical Apr 13 #51

That's how it was with Tony Gonzales. LeftInTX Apr 13 #70

Yep. Just like Weinstein and Ronan Farrow Sympthsical Apr 13 #81

The comments made by some poster here Lifeafter70 Apr 13 #72

Humans gonna human Sympthsical Apr 13 #84

Threat of lawsuit? RoseTrellis Apr 13 #65

Wow. Passages Apr 13 #42

The Democratic Party doesn't allow this kind of behavor. Escape Apr 13 #30

True. Shades of Gary Hart. peppertree Apr 13 #46

Wait-a-sec mr715 Apr 13 #111

Sure. peppertree Apr 13 #113

I'll have to check out Ms. Kelley's book. mr715 Apr 13 #114

That could have something to do with it peppertree Apr 13 #116

Thanks for the insight mr715 Apr 13 #133

You're very welcome peppertree Apr 13 #140

Well, The Democratic Party Apparently Does So "Allow," Until...., ColoringFool Apr 13 #80

True - but at least they have limits peppertree Apr 13 #105

Sent me to the all knowing internet to find out who Rielle Hunter is... Escape Apr 13 #136

Nobody wants to be the messenger. milestogo Apr 13 #34

That's true... LeftInTX Apr 13 #38

The Gary Hart of our times peppertree Apr 13 #39

My exact thought this morning. paleotn Apr 13 #50

Gary Hart may have been a reckless philanderer, but Jose Garcia Apr 13 #56

There's still issues of consent going after a parade of young women EdmondDantes_ Apr 13 #95

I believe the House introduced a resolution in 2018 prohibiting any sexual contact between a member and staff MichMan Apr 13 #103

Luckily for Lady G, it didn't apply to the Senate peppertree Apr 13 #106

"Accountability" only applies to Democrats. valleyrogue Apr 13 #40

Sad - but true. And you see that in many other democracies. peppertree Apr 13 #108

Gandhi??? LeftInTX Apr 13 #126

So Gandhi was quite the dandy. peppertree Apr 13 #141

Scene from the 1933 movie 42nd Street LeftInTX Apr 13 #144

If party leadership knew about this & didn't discourage him from running for gov, then they're complicit, too. CrispyQ Apr 13 #53

That's the part that got me Tree Lady Apr 13 #74

The weird thing is jfz9580m Apr 13 #55

He is resigning. Accountability is taking place. Martin68 Apr 13 #58

Philandering is one thing but Billsdaughter Apr 13 #61

"Was an open secret for a long time" sunnybrook Apr 13 #63

The open secret appears to have been that he was sleeping around while married. LisaL Apr 13 #64

If higher ups in the party knew, they shouldn't have encouraged him to run for governor. LeftInTX Apr 13 #76

I agree. LisaL Apr 13 #83

I'd like to see those sources too MorbidButterflyTat Apr 13 #130

I think a lot of people just liked that Swalwell that was an attack dog against Trump and didn't care about much else MichMan Apr 13 #71

Too many people repeat everything Trump says and seem to believe it as well Just_Vote_Dem Apr 13 #75

that's not evident in anything bigtree Apr 13 #87

This message was self-deleted by its author MichMan Apr 13 #98

"The rumors that are being discussed as being generally known are of consensual relationships, not sexual assault or WhiskeyGrinder Apr 13 #101

I never understood the Avenatti stanning. He always seemed like a plonker to me. I certianly never got invested in the Celerity Apr 13 #91

DURec leftstreet Apr 13 #73

I'm not a fan of situational ethics. democrank Apr 13 #89

Yes. And a horror I have heard applauded jfz9580m Apr 13 #112

How soon we forget Edwards and other Dem 'womanizers' JCMach1 Apr 13 #109

How soon we forget Edwards and other Dem 'womanizers' JCMach1 Apr 13 #110

I mean like, what 50 year old man sends dick pics to his girlfriends? Jersey Devil Apr 13 #115

This is another dispiriting revelation peggysue2 Apr 13 #117

Power does strange things to some people MustLoveBeagles Apr 13 #139

I have counter evidence for the last sentence. My daughter endorsed Swalwell before hearing any rumors, then "quickly deurbano Apr 13 #118

Obviously most of us (in general public) LisaL Apr 13 #127

I certainly did not, even thoI fancy myself to be rather well informed. 3catwoman3 Apr 13 #134

With all due respect Sympthsical Apr 13 #138

As The "Old Folks" Say..........🎶........ ColoringFool Apr 13 #142