Swalwell, Gonzales May Be Saved From Expulsion by Ethics Committee Investigations

Congressmen Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales may be saved from growing calls for their expulsion thanks to the House Ethics Committee, which is now investigating both men. Mr. Gonzales has admitted to having an affair with a staffer who later committed suicide and Mr. Swalwell has been accused of sexually assaulting a former staffer, though he denies that allegation. The accusation that Mr. Swalwell twice sexually assaulted a staffer led to prompt calls from his colleagues on both sides of the aisle for him to either resign or face expulsion. Over the weekend, lawmakers started coalescing around a compromise — that Messrs. Swalwell and Gonzales should both face expulsion measures so as to keep the House margins unchanged. The idea was first floated by Congressman Jared Huffman, a California Democrat. Within hours, his colleagues — both Republicans and Democrats — said they agreed with him. Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican, said she is drafting a resolution to expel Mr. Swalwell. The chairwoman of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández, said she would do the same for Mr. Gonzales. On Monday, however, the House Ethics Committee announced that Mr. Swalwell is now under investigation. He suspended his bid for California governor on Sunday as a result of the accusations first published by the San Francisco Chronicle.“The Committee … has begun an investigation and will gather additional information regarding the allegations that Representative Eric Swalwell violated the Code of Official Conduct or any law, rule, regulation, or other applicable standard of conduct in the performance of his duties,” the committee said in a press release Monday. The panel opened an investigation into Mr. Gonzales last month. The existence of the Ethics Committee probes may provide breathing room for both congressmen. During an initial attempt to expel Congressman George Santos from the House, dozens of Democrats sided with more than 180 Republicans to allow Santos to remain a member of the body. Many of those Democrats cited the fact that while Santos was under investigation by the Ethics Committee and faced federal criminal charges, no report had yet been released by the panel, nor had he pleaded guilty to the charges, which he later would do. “Santos has not been criminally convicted yet of any of the offenses he has been indicted for that were cited in the Resolution nor has he been found guilty of ethics offenses in the House internal process,” Congressman Jamie Raskin, now the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said in a statement at the time. He voted against expelling Santos. “This would be a terrible precedent to set, expelling people who have not been convicted of a crime and without internal due process. If and when Santos is convicted of these serious criminal offenses or ethics charges, I will certainly vote to expel him,” Mr. Raskin explained. “Until then, it’s a very risky road to go down and we have to stick by due process and the rule of law.”Once the Ethics Committee released its report a few weeks later, Santos was expelled from the House. It takes two-thirds of the House — or 290 votes — to expel a member. The length of Ethics Committee investigations varies wildly. The probe into Santos lasted only a matter of months, while other investigations — including into Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and Congressman Matt Gaetz — lasted for several years. Some moderate, swing district Democrats seem worried that Messrs. Swalwell and Gonzales will be allowed to wait out investigators, given they are both scheduled to leave the House in January. In a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson and the minority leader, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, more than a dozen House Democrats asked that the investigations into their colleagues be completed as swiftly as possible. “We write with deep concern about the urgent need to address serious allegations against multiple House Members from both parties. The American people deserve a Congress that upholds the highest ethical standards and holds its Members accountable when those standards are violated,” the lawmakers wrote to Messrs. Johnson and Jeffries. The initiative was led by Congresswoman Susie Lee, a Democrat who represents a Trump-won district in Nevada.“Where investigations have already reached conclusions, we call for prompt action. The full range of accountability measures must remain on the table, up to and including expulsion from the House,” the lawmakers wrote.

Swalwell, Gonzales May Be Saved From Expulsion by Ethics Committee Investigations

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