By Alison Main, Manu Raju, CNN

(CNN) — Sen. Ruben Gallego, one of Rep. Eric Swalwell’s closest friends in Congress, insisted at an emotional news conference Tuesday that he had been lied to and manipulated by a man with whom he had a close personal and professional relationship.

But Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, acknowledged to CNN that he had heard “rumors” over the years of Swalwell being “flirty” — and that he should have confronted him about those rumors when they first came to light. He said he chose not to believe the rumors about the congressman, a top political ally, because of the good-natured way Swalwell behaved with him and in front of his family and children — and that none of the rumors pertained to allegations of sexual assault or harassment.

Pressed on whether he had seen Swalwell in any compromising positions, he responded, “I didn’t see that. But look, we all heard rumors in Washington, DC, about Eric Swalwell for many years,” adding, “My family again was with him all the time, with his wife, with his kids, and we saw a different side of Eric.”

Swalwell resigned from Congress Tuesday as he faced the threat of an expulsion vote. The swift political downfall came after CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle reported that a former staffer accused him of sexual assault. The California Democrat has strongly denied the allegations against him.

Gallego, asked if he should have acted differently when he first heard “rumors” about Swalwell’s behavior several years ago, conceded, “I should have talked to him about it.”

“I think I should have told him, you know, this is what I’m hearing out there. And I think you should know about it, and if you’re doing it, stop. You know, I fell into the trap again because I think I was too inside the family bubble,” he said.

Gallego insisted he had never heard of or witnessed evidence of sexual assault or harassment connected to Swalwell. But when allegations were reported Friday, he said he called Swalwell and told him to “get out” of Congress and the California governor’s race. Swalwell dropped out of the governor’s race on Sunday.

Pressed on how he did not know about any of the allegations, considering he chaired Swalwell’s 2020 presidential campaign and had close insight into his political orbit, Gallego responded, “This man led a double life. He lied to us. He lied to his family, lied to his constituents.”

CNN has reached out to Swalwell for comment.

Gallego said he had recently asked Swalwell about “rumors” about his conduct picking up steam on the internet during his gubernatorial campaign. But the California Democrat denied it, he said, telling him it was “the same thing they tried to do to you in 2024,” referring to Gallego’s Arizona Senate campaign.

The Arizona Democrat faced scrutiny from Republicans in his highly competitive Senate race over his 2016 divorce from Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego when she was pregnant with their son.

“Unfortunately, right now, the same people that were attacking me in 2024 are using this horrible situation, this horrible situation that’s been thrown upon these women, thrown upon Eric Swalwell’s family, and using this as an excuse to quickly attack me, lie about me and my family. I will not take that lightly,” Gallego said.

The congressman denied having ever been unfaithful in his own marriage.

In his final conversation with Swalwell after the reports surfaced last week, Gallego said he was “very frank,” telling him “you need to get out” after the first allegations were published. He said Swalwell denied t

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By Hadas Gold, CNN

(CNN) — The suspect in the attack on the home of OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and the company’s headquarters was held without bail on Tuesday in California Superior Court, the Associated Press reported.

His arraignment on charges of attempted murder and attempted arson was moved to May 5, according to the AP. The San Francisco district attorney’s office had requested Moreno-Gama be held without bail because of the risk the office said he poses to public safety.

But his attorney, San Francisco Deputy Public Defender Diamond Ward, said he was experiencing an “acute mental health crisis.” She said her client has been overcharged for “a property crime, at best,” according to the wire service.

California and federal authorities allege Daniel Moreno-Gama, 20, traveled from Texas to San Francisco, where they say he threw an incendiary device at Altman’s home early Friday morning. Then he allegedly went to OpenAI‘s offices and attempted to break down the doors with a chair, threatening to “kill anyone” inside, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday by the FBI.

San Francisco police said he was arrested outside the company’s offices carrying more incendiary materials and an anti-AI manifesto he had written that called for the killing of AI CEOs and their investors. No one was injured.

Moreno-Gama faces both state and federal charges, including attempted murder – both of Altman and the security guard who was at his house the night of the attack – and attempted arson on the state level and, on the federal level, charges related to an unregistered firearm and attempted damage and destruction of property by means of explosives.

He could also face charges related to domestic terrorism, Craig Missakian, US Attorney for Northern District of California, said earlier this week. The FBI raided Moreno-Gama’s home in Texas on Monday, CNN affiliate KHOU reported.

In a statement on Monday after the charges were filed, an OpenAI spokesperson said that while the company welcomes “a good faith debate” on integrating AI, “there is no place in our democracy for violence against anyone, regardless of the AI lab they work at or side of the debate they belong to.”

“We are grateful to law enforcement for their quick response and that no one was hurt,” the spokesperson added.

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By Casey Tolan, Allison Gordon, Kyung Lah, CNN

(CNN) — A woman on Tuesday accused Rep. Eric Swalwell of sexually assaulting her, saying at a news conference that the congressman raped her in 2018 at a Los Angeles-area hotel.

Lonna Drewes and her lawyer, Lisa Bloom, said they planned to report the assault to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Bloom declined to share detailed corroboration of Drewes’ claims, which CNN could not independently verify, saying that evidence would be shared with law enforcement authorities first.

Swalwell, who represented a San Francisco Bay Area congressional seat, was a leading Democratic candidate for California governor until CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle published stories Friday documenting claims of sexual misconduct against him.

In the following days, Swalwell dropped out of the governor’s race and resigned his congressional seat. He has denied that he ever had nonconsensual sex and said he would fight those allegations, but apologized to his family and constituents for “mistakes in judgment.”

Sara Azari, a lawyer for Swalwell, said in a statement Tuesday that “Swalwell categorically and unequivocally denies each and every allegation of sexual misconduct and assault that has been leveled against him.”

A former staffer for Swalwell previously told CNN that the congressman raped her in 2024, and several years earlier had nonconsensual sexual contact with her while she was heavily intoxicated. Multiple other women have told CNN that Swalwell sent them unsolicited nude photos of himself and other sexually explicit messages.

Drewes, who was working as a model and an entrepreneur at the time, said she met Swalwell socially in 2018, and that he offered to connect her with Silicon Valley investors who could support the fashion company she owned. Drewes said she was considering running for the Beverly Hills City Council, and the two also talked about politics.

On the third occasion they met, Drewes said she believed that Swalwell “drugged my drink.”

She said that she and Swalwell were supposed to go to a political event together, but he said he needed to go to his hotel room to get paperwork.

“When I arrived at his hotel room, I was already incapacitated, and I couldn’t move my arms from my body,” she said. “He raped me and he choked me, and while he was choking me I lost consciousness and I thought I died.”

Drewes said that she did not report the alleged assault to police or receive a rape kit at the time it occurred, but added that “I disclosed the assault to the people closest to me.”

“My delay in taking action against Eric was driven by fear, not doubt,” she said, adding, “I have never doubted what happened.”

In an interview with CNN after her news conference, Drewes described her memory of the alleged assault, but her lawyers told her not to share details including the exact date of the incident or the names of people she told about it because they preferred to give that information to law enforcement first.

Drewes told CNN she decided to speak out to support other women who had come forward to accuse Swalwell of misconduct.

“My motivation was for other girls,” she said. “For a long while I’ve wanted to say something. When I k

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