The resignations of congressmen Tony Gonzales and Eric Swalwell from the House of Representatives may be welcome news to those disgusted with how men in power allegedly mistreat women, but there remain important issues not yet (and perhaps never to be) resolved, including the danger of equating accusation with proof of guilt, the degree that the downfalls of Gonzales and Swalwell were more the product of politics than revulsion at the conduct of which they were accused, and the need for Congress to be more transparent not only about the alleged transgressions of those in the executive branch, but of those in Congress as well. Too many people are being victimized, including (possibly) Gonzalez and Swalwell, as well as the women who have truly been victimized but whose cases are of interest only because they can be used to destroy Gonzalez and Swalwell and not because anyone actually cares about them, and the general public too, now governed by a Congress whose members are afraid to reveal what is known about other sexual abuse cases.
Tony Gonzales, a married Republican from Texas, was a 3-term congressman seeking renomination and re-election to a fourth term. He has confessed to an affair with a staffer who was married to another man and who committed suicide by dousing herself with gasoline and setting herself on fire. Her widower says that there was not necessarily a connection between her affair and her self-immolation.
Eric Swalwell, a married Democrat from California, was a 7-term congressman running for Governor. Numerous women have complained that he harassed them in various ways, whether by sending lewd text messages, or photographs of his genitals, or by drugging and possibly raping or otherwise assaulting and molesting them. He admits to “mistakes” in his personal conduct, which he says are matters to be resolved between himself and his wife, but denies any criminal misconduct. Nonetheless, prosecutors in both Los Angeles and Manhattan have opened criminal investigations.
One point of concern is the power of accusation to destroy one’s career. Accusation alone should not be considered proof of guilt. Conviction of any crime requires either a freely given confession by the accused or that the accuser bear the burden of proving the veracity of his accusation beyond a reasonable doubt. Gonzales, having confessed to the affair and to breaking a House rule prohibiting affairs between members of Congress and their staffers, is not under any criminal investigation. But Swalwell has been accused of actual crimes and is being judged by the media, the public, and his former colleagues despite the fact that he has not yet been found guilty of anything at all. Indeed, the criminal investigations are only in their most embryonic stages. Should Swalwell be ultimately acquitted in a court of law, he will be able to complain, accurately, that he was the victim of a grave injustice. No doubt many Republicans, especially of the MAGA sort, are rejoicing at his downfall, given that he was one of President Trump’s fiercest critics and one of the lead prosecutors in Trump’s second impeachment trial. But those who celebrate Swalwell’s demise should remember that his fate could one day be a precedent for theirs as well.
Also noteworthy is the degree to which partisan politics, rather than genuine concern for the welfare of the alleged victims of Gonzales and especially Swalwell, seems to have been involved in their destruction. One is justified in wondering whether the revelations and accusations of their misconduct—real and alleged—during heated primary battles are more than mere coincidence. And if those accusing Gonzales and Swalwell were motivated primarily by a shared desire to affect the outcome of their respective primary campaigns, then one may question the degree, if any, to which those making the accusations really cared at all about the women victimized (or, in Swalwell’s case, allegedly victimized).
Gonzales, a relatively moderate Republican who supported gay marriage and seemed open to mild gun control measures following the Uvalde mass murders, had attracted vigorous conservative opposition. A former member of his staff leaked information about his affair to his leading conservative opponent. What gives? A conservative plot to eliminate a moderate from contention?
The Swalwell case is more complex. He was running for Governor in California’s jungle primary, in which all the candidates for a particular office appear on the same ballot, and the top two candidates, regardless of party affiliation, go on to the general election. This year, the system poses a major threat to Democrats. Most of the candidates running for governor and seeking to make it into the top two finalists are Democrats. Only two are Republicans. California Democrats are beginning to fear that the many Democratic candidates would split the Democratic vote so badly that none would be able to make it into the top two, thereby guaranteeing the election of a Republican in this sapphire blue state. Trouble for Swalwell became apparent when three Democratic female influencers used their social network platforms to solicit accusations of wrongdoing, which prompted prominent Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to demand he drop out. With support (and money) drying up, Swalwell felt he had no choice but to leave both the race and, like Gonzales, resign from Congress. Reports by Fox News and the Wall Street Journal raise the possibility that this was a deliberate and successful effort to “thin the herd,” or reduce the number of Democrats in the race and thereby reduce the chances that both Republicans will win the top two slots, move on to the general election, and shut the Democrats out of contention.
Both Gonzalez and Swalwell resigned from Congress the same week to avoid the possibilities of investigations and possible expulsions. One cannot help but wonder whether their simultaneous departures were arranged to preserve the delicate balance of power within the House of Representatives and prevent either party from winning an advantage over the other. If so, this would be yet another instance in which partisan politics rather than the welfare of women dominated.
Whatever the misconduct, real or alleged, of Gonzales and Swalwell, and whatever the motives of those who forced them out of Congress, the Congress itself must be more transparent about who’s doing what, and especially who, unlike Gonzales or Swalwell, is getting away with what. Congress is absolutely right to demand more progress in publishing the Epstein files, at least in a way consistent with the rights of the victims to maintain their privacy and the rights of the accused to due process and the presumption of innocence until guilt is proven in criminal prosecutions based on the files’ content. But Congress must also reveal its own records of members found to have engaged in illicit misconduct, and especially those who have used taxpayers’ funds to settle personal transgressions. The House recently voted 357 to 65 against revealing records of sexual misconduct by its members. The vote should have been 435 to 0 in favor of revelations. Disgraceful. What are they hiding? Whatever one thinks of Gonzales or Swalwell, they may well be the tip of a much larger iceberg of misconduct by those who seek to make our laws, while exempting themselves from the conduct they prescribe for others.
All in all, this matter has too many victims, or at least potential victims—Gonzales and especially Swalwell if the charges brought against the latter prove to be false; the women whom Gonzalez definitely victimized and Swalwell possibly victimized, and whose victimization is now being exploited by the political enemies of Gonzalez and Swalwell for political ends and not out of a genuine desire for justice for the actual victims; the female victims of all the congressmen whose transgressions are being hushed up to preserve the careers of the victimizers; and We, the People, who are subject to the governance of those in Congress too ashamed of their own conduct to publicly reveal it.
Malcolm L. Cross has lived in Stephenville since 1987 and taught politics and government at Tarleton for 36 years, retiring in 2023. His political and civic activities include service on the Stephenville City Council (2000-2014) and on the Erath County Republican Executive Committee (1990-2024). He was Mayor pro-tem of Stephenville from 2008 to 2014. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Stephenville
Economic Development Authority since 2018, and as chair of the Erath County Appraisal District’s Appraisal Review Board since 2015. He is also a member of the Stephenville Rotary Club, the Board of Vestry of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, and the Executive Committee of the Boy Scouts’ Pecan Valley District. Views expressed in this column are his and do not reflect those of The Flash as a whole.
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