Government filings show that Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-CA) campaign spent nearly $583,000 on travel expenses during the 2022 election cycle. The spending spree totaled more than even former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) spent on travel during the last election and included thousands on luxury accommodations at exclusive hotels and aboard yachts.
While most Americans were dealing with the effects of inflation, Swalwell’s campaign was living it up in some of the world’s most luxurious resorts. The congressman used donor funds to pay for expensive flights, limousines, and hotels. One of the campaign’s largest expenses was $20,240 spent on the Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay, where Swalwell’s wife worked as the sales director until 2019.
NEW!
President Donald J. Trump:
“Little respected Rep. Eric Swalwell was just kicked off the Intelligence Committee for reasons of “Integrity and lack of Intelligence” &, for having the poor judgment of dating and falling desperately in love with a Chinese Spy, Fang Fang… pic.twitter.com/898QJss75r
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) February 22, 2023
The campaign also spent huge sums on international travel in Paris, including $1,800 at the five-star Hotel La Maison Champs-Elysées and more than $3,500 at the Ritz Paris. Other domestic luxury hotels where Swalwell’s campaign spent money outside his congressional district include Loews Miami Beach.
In addition to luxury accommodations, the campaign spent nearly $29,000 at Just Dreaming Yacht Charters, a San Francisco-based agency providing private yachts for up to 40 passengers. Furthermore, Swalwell’s committee spent $131,000 on childcare expenses, including more than $2,100 at a Maryland location of Let Mommy Sleep, which offers overnight postpartum care for newborn babies.
Swalwell’s campaign committee was made up of just two paid staffers for most of the 2022 election cycle. Yet, it spent thousands of dollars on luxury accommodations in prime vacation spots.
It remains unclear why Swalwell’s campaign spent almost $30,000 on yachts and thousands more on luxury hotels, especially as his seat was never really in jeopardy, given that he won over 69% of the vote. Furthermore, it is unclear whether donors were aware that Swalwell would be spending over $100,000 of their money on childcare.
Newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) booted Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee following credible allegations surfaced in recent years that Swalwell was involved in a romantic entanglement with a Chinese spy.
Swalwell pouted publicly about being removed from the Intelligence Committee, stating: “The old McCarthy used political power to punish and abuse his political opponents, and Kevin McCarthy is doing the same thing here.”
