Campaign finance records show Cloobeck gave Swalwell’s campaigns more than $23,000

Cloobeck faced a witness-intimidation charge and temporary platform ban

Federal campaign finance records show that developer Stephen Cloobeck, who founded the Diamond Resorts International timeshare company and ran for California governor last year, contributed more than $23,000 to Swalwell’s congressional campaigns since 2017. As accusations against Swalwell mounted, Cloobeck told the New York Post in April that he had cut ties with the former representative. He said, “I am no longer associated with a man that takes advantage of women,” and added, “I support women’s rights.”

Cloobeck also faced a separate criminal charge and platform ban. He was charged with witness intimidation in May in an unrelated case and pleaded not guilty. In August, the online prediction market platform Kalshi temporarily banned him after it said he bought $10,000 worth of contracts on his short-lived gubernatorial candidacy.

Federal law enforcement agents searched Cloobeck’s Beverly Hills home early Tuesday as part of the investigation into Swalwell, according to two people familiar with the investigation. The people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation, said agents searched the home of the developer and Swalwell donor, where Swalwell spent time before resigning from Congress in April. Asked about the search at Cloobeck’s address, FBI spokesperson Lourdes Arocho said: “Early this morning the FBI conducted an operation in the Los Angeles region related to an ongoing criminal investigation. We have no further comment.”

In August, federal agents seized electronic devices from Swalwell at the San Francisco airport and searched his Washington home. The Tuesday search of Cloobeck’s home followed those actions.

The federal investigation into Swalwell is one of several probes opened after a woman came forward with allegations that he sexually assaulted her twice, including when she worked for him. The San Francisco Chronicle first reported the allegations, and CNN followed. CNN also reported that three other women alleged various kinds of sexual misconduct by Swalwell, including sending them unsolicited explicit messages or nude photos.

Around the same time, another woman came forward with allegations that Swalwell raped her at a Southern California hotel in 2018. She said she had one glass of wine, believed Swalwell drugged her and planned to make a report to law enforcement.

The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has said it is also investigating Swalwell after a former staffer told CNN and the Chronicle that Swalwell raped her at a hotel while he was in New York City for a charity gala in 2024. In a statement, Bragg’s office encouraged “survivors and anyone with knowledge of these allegations to contact our Special Victims Division.” Los Angeles prosecutors were also said to be weighing charges.

Swalwell has denied criminal wrongdoing. Messages seeking comment were left for Swalwell’s lawyer and for a lawyer who represented Cloobeck in another matter, and the FBI said it had no further comment.

Swalwell, an Iowa native, was elected in 2012 and represented a House district east of San Francisco. He launched a presidential run in April 2019 but ended it a few months later after failing to catch on with voters. The seven-term lawmaker had been seen as one of the leading candidates in California’s gubernatorial race before dropping out after the allegations surfaced.

Swalwell was a prominent member of the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees during Republican President Donald Trump’s first term and served as one of several Democratic prosecutors for Trump’s second impeachment after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Swalwell was removed from the Intelligence Committee by then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in 2023 based on Swalwell’s contact with a suspected Chinese spy, Christine Fang. Fang was reported to have come into contact with Swalwell’s campaign as he was first running for Congress in 2012 and to have participated in fundraising for his 2014 campaign. Federal investigators alerted Swalwell to their concerns and briefed Congress about Fang in 2015, at which point Swalwell says he cut off contact with her. He was not accused of wrongdoing, and a House Ethics Committee investigation that was opened in 2021 closed two years later without any action.