\n<\/p>\n
California gubernatorial candidate Eric Swalwell is facing escalating pressure to drop out of the race following an allegation of sexual assault and multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.<\/p>\n
The San Francisco Chronicle published on Friday an account<\/a> of a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by Swalwell on two separate occasions.<\/p>\n The woman said she was a former employee for Swalwell, a sitting congressman who has represented the East Bay area since 2013. The woman, whom the newspaper did not name, said she had sexual encounters with Swalwell while he was her boss, and alleged he sexually assaulted her when she was too intoxicated to consent. The Guardian has not independently confirmed the allegations.<\/p>\n The woman also spoke with CNN, and three other women alleged sexual misconduct by the Democratic congressman in interviews with the news network.<\/p>\n Swalwell forcefully denied the allegations. \u201cFor nearly 20 years, I have served the public \u2013 as a prosecutor and a congressman and have always protected women,\u201d he said in a statement.\u201d I will defend myself with the facts and where necessary bring legal action. My focus in the coming days is to be with my wife and children and defend our decades of service against these lies.\u201d<\/p>\n Lawyers for Swalwell\u2019s campaign sent two of the women cease-and-desist letters, which called the women\u2019s accounts \u201cfalse\u201d and ordered them to retract their statements, CNN reported.<\/p>\n Swalwell\u2019s campaign did not respond to questions from the Guardian.<\/p>\n The reports came days after posts had circulated social media, claiming that a groundswell of women would go public with accounts of inappropriate behavior they had experienced from Swalwell.<\/p>\n At a town hall in Sacramento earlier this week, Swalwell disavowed the online discourse as \u201cfalse\u201d and suggested the posts were timed intentionally to derail his campaign.<\/p>\n Swalwell, whose platform emphasized affordability and the working class, in recent weeks had emerged as a frontrunner in a crowded Democratic race to succeed Gavin Newsom.<\/p>\n On the cable news circuit, he has often been a fierce opponent of Donald Trump. He positioned himself as fighter who could take Trump on if he were governor.<\/p>\n News of the allegations reverberated through the campaign on Friday.<\/p>\n