Tuesday, April 14, 2026

The Democrats’ Swalwell Follies (Operative word is "Democrats")

 The American Spectator  

"Chuck Schumer. Chris Murphy. Chris Coons. Dick Blumenthal. Adam Schiff. Hakeem Jeffries. Robert Garcia.They’re all the same. They’re all expendable. When any of them seek to actually run anything, like going for the presidential nomination or even running for governor, they find out how expendable they are." 

"Friday’s Five Quick Things column had four other entries, all of which I thought were more interesting, but the one which got me the most feedback was Thing #4 about Eric Swalwell, the noxious, oafish California congressman who, over the weekend, “suspended” his bid to become that state’s governor amid a tsunami of allegations of sexual abuse in his past.

"Here’s what I said about Swalwell (in part; feel free to read the whole thing here)…

Eric Swalwell is a political beta male. He might be a sexual alpha predator, if only in a hookup sense, but it’s the lack of moral standing that makes it impossible for him to wield any real power within that party. He’s compromised.

If you look around, you will see that’s true of the vast majority of the higher-profile male Democrat politicians around the country. My theory, which I’ll confess is pretty new, and I’ve not fully tested it, is that this is a major — if not THE major — factor in the Dems’ hard matriarchal turn of late. That party has been feminized, and its moderating forces stripped away, because it no longer can produce male politicians with traditional convictions.

I mean, how can you when you want to turn boys into girls and Trump Derangement Syndrome is your sole political currency? What self-respecting male would be willing to lead a party like that?

"It’s probably worthy of a little further examination, because I did get a few questions about what I meant in that passage.

"First, though, boy… this really escalated quickly, didn’t it?

New York’s Mamdani Plays the Race Card

 Las Vegas Review-Journal, 

New York’s Mamdani Plays the Race Card . . . "But it is important here to understand the background of the Democrat elites that led to this kind of blatantly racist policy-making. So step into the time travel capsule with me, and we’ll go back to, yes, the very beginning of the Democrats’ party and what they said in their very first platform in, yes, 1840. The platform said, among other things, this — with bold print for emphasis supplied:
Resolved, That congress has no power, under the constitution, to interfere with or control the domestic institutions of the several states, and that such states are the sole and proper judges of everything appertaining to their own affairs, not prohibited by the constitution; that all efforts by abolitionists or others, made to induce congress to interfere with questions of slavery, or to take incipient steps in relation thereto, are calculated to lead to the most alarming and dangerous consequences, and that all such efforts have an inevitable tendency to diminish the happiness of the people, and endanger the stability and permanency of the union, and ought not to be countenanced by any friend to our political institutions.
"Got that? Right off the bat, from the moment of their first organizing, the Democrats were supporting racism in its rawest form. Which is to say: they were supporting slavery." . . .

"From the beginning of the party’s history to this moment, as now personified by Mayor Mamdani, race is what they always seem to care about. The question now is whether Mamdani will get away with this. Or not?"


"Those on the right who failed to show up to the polls for Mamdani”s election—shame on you. For those who elected him, shame on you. You will be reaping the crazy socialist programs that he will institute. NYC will be a cautionary tale for the rest of the US as elections come up." Comment to the below post by Cindi Ludlum

 Ben Shapiro: The Rise of MAMDANI, Explained  Video.  "Zohran Mamdani seemingly appeared from nowhere via TikTok, and has since become the Democrat Party’s model for the next generation of American politicians. But behind his smarmy smile, Zohran Mamdani is nothing more than champagne socialist—radicalized at his family’s Riverside Drive dinner table and keen on importing Third-worldism into the financial capital of the West.



We’re Blockading Iran, Not the Strait

 Power Line  

"Centcom has clarified exactly what our naval forces will do, beginning tomorrow evening:" 

The American Spectator

. . . "So we aren’t closing the Strait, we are blockading Iranian ports. This means that Iran won’t be able to sell any oil. Two countries will be hurt: Iran and China, which buys 80% of Iranian oil. The Gulf States will be able to ship their oil through the Strait as soon as they choose to do so.

"Meanwhile, we are sending vessels to the Strait to try to dispose of the mines that Iran may or may not have laid there. Other countries may aid in that effort. Iran still has a lot of small boats that they have used to harass shipping, but they will be useless against our ships. And reportedly, a number of oil tankers have diverted from other courses and are heading to the Gulf of Mexico America to load up on American oil and gas.

"Maybe I am missing something, but this seems like an excellent solution. In the short term, China will have an incentive to lean on whoever is left in the regime to open the Strait. In the meantime, we aren’t destroying Iran’s petroleum infrastructure, merely preventing it from selling any oil. That means that Iran’s supply will be added to the global total before long, one way or another, and if the Iranian people are able to throw off the yoke of Islamic tyranny, they will take over an intact oil infrastructure.

"Medium term, the Strait will be rendered mostly irrelevant once the Israeli-Saudi pipeline that will connect the Gulf States to the Mediterranean has been constructed. At that point, I believe the only countries that will need Hormuz to ship oil will be Iran and perhaps Iraq."  More...

Alan Dershowitz: Trump could move to expunge 2019 impeachment after release of bombshell evidence

  Just The News  "'It's never been done. I don't see any reason why it couldn't be done," the famed law professor told Just the News."

"These government officials will probably have to pay a political price, if not a legal price, for violating the Constitution, because that's what they've done. They violated the Constitution," he said. 


"Famed Harvard law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz says he believes President Donald Trump could have grounds to expunge his 2019 impeachment in the House after bombshell new evidence revealed the intelligence community failed to disclose that his main accuser had the potential for bias, made a false statement and only had hearsay to back up his allegations.

"Dershowitz, a Democrat at the time who worked to defend Trump at the impeachment trial that ended in the president's acquittal, said it would be "an interesting, novel approach" for Trump to go to Chief Justice John Roberts, who presided over the case, or Congress and ask for the impeachment to be reversed because the defense team was denied the right to confront his accusers with exculpatory evidence.

"'It's never been done. I don't see any reason why it couldn't be done," Dershowitz said during an interview Monday night on the Just the News, No Noise television show. "Impeachment is a quasi-judicial procedure, whether you have to go back to Congress and ask them to expunge it or go to the courts.

"'But I have to tell you one thing, history will expunge it already based on your work, because what you've done is you've created so much doubt about the credibility of the main accuser that it's hard for anybody to sit back now and say that was a just, a just impeachment, but I don't know that there's going to be any remedy," he added. "Maybe we should try to create one." . . .

More...

Trump tells Dershowitz he should seek to vacate 2019 impeachment based on new intelligence evidence | Just The News  

"On Sunday, Just the News reported on recently declassified memos showing that the CIA analyst who prompted the 2019 Ukraine-focused impeachment of President Donald Trump submitted false information in his whistleblower complaint, among other derogatory evidence." 

Swalwell’s Sudden Collapse Isn’t About ‘Sexual Misconduct’ ; Cue the polka-dot underwear cartoons

Issues & Insights 

"But don’t mistake Swalwell’s lightning-fast fall from grace as a sign that Democrats suddenly care about sexual misconduct, or misconduct of any kind. Swalwell was the first sacrificial lamb in the party’s determination to keep control of California. He probably won’t be the last."


"Just a few weeks ago, Rep. Eric Swalwell was said to be leading a crowded pack of Democrats trying to win the nomination for California’s governor. Then, in the blink of an eye, his party abandoned him.

The alleged reason is evidence of sexual misconduct. In reality, Swalwell fell victim to the Democratic Party’s unquenchable lust for power and California’s bizarre jungle primary.

On Friday, the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN both ran stories about women accusing him of sexual misconduct. Within hours, Democrats were taking their endorsements back and calling on him to drop out of the race. By Sunday, he’d suspended his campaign. On Monday, he said he would resign from Congress.

"Has any politician fallen so far so fast?

"Keep in mind that the normal way for Democrats to handle accusations of sexual misconduct – including rape allegations – among one of their own is to circle the wagons and count on the press to smear the accusers. (Just ask Paula Jones or Tara Reade.)

So why did Democrats and the mainstream press instantly throw Swalwell overboard – before any of the allegations had even been investigated?

"It has less to do with his antics than it does with the upcoming California governor’s race and the state’s bizarre “jungle” primary system.

"Let us explain.

"Started in 2012, the state’s primary system lets anyone vote for any candidate, and the top two finishers – regardless of party – go on to the general election. It was advertised as a way to open the door to more qualified candidates, but it was really a way to impose one-party rule on the state by keeping Republicans off as many ballots as possible." . . .More...

Swalwell’s blanket party | Power Line

   "Mr. Swalwell walks away from his blanket party bruised and stumbling. He suspended his campaign. It’s hard to see a political future for him, but stranger things have happened in politics. The partisan split in Congress is tighter than a tick. Every warm body counts. Will the Democratic Party Machine toss Mr. Swalwell overboard even if doing so makes life a little easier for congressional Republicans for the next few months?"

Sex Scandals End 2 Congressional Careers in 1 Day

Toon added by TD

. . . "Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales, who was facing allegations of sexual misconduct with subordinates, announced his intention to resign on Monday.

“There is a season for everything and God has a plan for us all. When Congress returns tomorrow, I will file my retirement from office. It has been my privilege to serve the great people of Texas,” Gonzales, a Republican, wrote on X. 

"Gonzales’ announcement came an hour after Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., who has also been accused of sexual misconduct, announced he would resign from Congress. Swalwell fully denies the accusations." . . . More...

Executions in Iran doubled in 2025, marking a 36-year high: report

 Caitlin McCormack

. . ."At least 57 others, including two protesters, were given the death penalty for intangible charges like “waging war against God” and “corruption on Earth,” according to the report." 


"The Iranian regime executed more than 1,600 people last year — marking a three decade high not seen since the end of the Islamic Republic’s war against Iraq in 1989.
" 'The shocking figures were included in a joint report released by the nonprofit Iran Human Rights and Together Against the Death Penalty, which estimated that in 2025 at least four people were put to death each day in Iran.
" 'In total, at least 1,639 were executed in Iran last year, the highest reported number since the post-war bloodbath in 1989, where an estimated 1,700 political prisoners were executed, according to the report. . . ." More...

Had enough Swalwell yet?

Eric Swalwell Facing Multiple Investigations Following Sexual Misconduct Allegations › American Greatness   

Congressional Democrats responded to calls for Swalwell to resign by moving to expel Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), who’s currently being investigated by the Ethics Committee for sexual misconduct allegations,  Axios reported.

"Rep. Luna  declared on X that both congressmen “are a disgrace.”

“This is the last chance for corrupt members of Congress to resign and keep some sliver of personal dignity. It is better to resign that to be expelled… but if THEY do NOT decide to do the right thing, we WILL vote to expel them,” she wrote. “@RepSwalwell @RepTonyGonzales, NO one will protect you for what you have done. Resign NOW or face expulsion by your colleagues, party, and country.”

The Exact Moment CNN Host Realizes Dem Is a Monster



The Committee, pursuant to Committee Rule 18(a), has begun an investigation and will gather additional information regarding the allegations that Representative Eric Swalwell violated the Code of Official Conduct or any law, rule, regulation, or other applicable standard of conduct in the performance of his duties or the discharge of his responsibilities, with respect to allegations that he may have engaged in sexual misconduct, including towards an employee working under his supervision.

 

Swalwell Is Not Doing Well, but Neither Are the Fellow Democrats Calling for His Ouster – RedState  ..."Katie "Mrs. Potato Head" Porter has languished in the polls since Swalwell entered the race. Thirsty and bitter, she sees this as her opportunity to edge past her equally languishing opponents who make up the best and the brightest of the Democrat brain trust. And she wasn't afraid to pull the woman card."...

Broc Smith


The Spectator P.M. Ep. 205: The Impending Collapse of Eric Swalwell   "On this episode of The Spectator P.M. Podcast, hosts Ellie Gardey Holmes, Lyrah Margo, and Morgan Weiner discuss the developing controversy with Swalwell and go through the horrific experiences that these women shared. They examine the responses by notable Democrats like Nancy Pelosi and connect Swalwell’s inappropriate encounters to Gavin Newsom’s past with women. (RELATED: The Women Who Will Haunt Gavin Newsom’s Presidential Campaign)

New York Post
@nypost  
Influencer's husband threatens Eric Swalwell after he allegedly bombarded her with nudes and turned up at her house trib.al/ViaN3h5
PoIiMath posted: The good news is that the citizens of California can still elect the woman who assaulted her ex-husband by pouring scalding mashed potatoes on his head
. . . "That was 2018, and now it’s Rep. Swalwell who faces the music in 2026.  Honestly, I have no idea if the charges against Rep. Swalwell are true or false.  He is entitled to due process and a fair hearing, or precisely what they never wanted for then-Judge Kavanaugh." . . .

The Eric Swalwell allegations remind us why sexual morality, and what our politicians do in the bedroom, matters - Olivia Murray   

If he (or she) is a degenerate in the sheets, he’s probably also going to be a degenerate in the streets. It absolutely is my business what these people are up to in their private lives, considering these same people are making an authoritative claim over how I live my life.






Is California Targeting Investigative Journalists? Assemblyman DeMaio Sounds the Alarm

RedState   

AB 2624 can only be described as the ‘Stop Nick Shirley Act’ — a bill designed to silence citizen journalists exposing fraud and abuse of taxpayer dollars. Instead of fixing the fraud problems being uncovered, Sacramento politicians are trying to shut down the people exposing them.


"Ever since independent investigative journalist Nick Shirley exposed rampant fraud and abuse in Minnesota under the "watchful" eyes of Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, Democrats' ire has not been focused on those who have gotten away with the fraud for, in many cases, years, but on those like Shirley who are shedding light on and exposing it. Now that Shirley has moved on to California and uncovered even more fraud there in the form of fake hospice scams, California Democrats want what people like Nick Shirley do outlawed.

Republican California State Assemblyman Carl DeMaio is blasting his state's Democrats over voting to advance AB2624. The bill would essentially squelch citizen journalists like Shirley and safeguard any taxpayer-funded organizations from any scrutiny. DeMaio has dubbed it "the Stop Nick Shirley Act." Shirley became a household name back in December of 2025, when he recorded videos of himself knocking on the doors of several Somali-run daycare facilities in Minneapolis. Ultimately, millions of dollars in fraud were discovered. (That's on top of a COVID-era child nutrition program that took in more than $250 million in fraudulent funds and has resulted in 98 indictments thus far.)" . . .

CA Democrats Advance “Stop Nick Shirley Act” to Criminalize Investigative Journalism - AD75 | DeMaio

ALSO READ: Oversight Committee Investigates Rampant California Hospice Fraud – Newsom 'Aware' of Problem for Years


More...

Monday, April 13, 2026

Michael Cohen says he was 'coerced' by Letitia James and Alvin Bragg to turn on Trump

 NY Post  

"Ex-legal fixer Michael Cohen on Friday accused New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of forcing him to testify against his former client, Donald Trump, as part of their civil fraud and “hush money” cases against the now-sitting president.

" 'I felt compelled and coerced to deliver what they were seeking,” Cohen wrote in a Substack post. “Letitia James and Alvin Bragg may not share the same office or political calendar, but they share the same playbook.”

"Cohen took to the independent journalists’ platform to reveal his thoughts about participating in the legal proceedings, as Trump seeks to have his appeal to overturn Bragg’s conviction heard by a federal appeals court.

"The president’s attorneys are also still seeking to have the $454 million civil fraud judgment against Trump for inflating his real estate empire tossed.

" 'From the time I first began meeting with lawyers from the Manhattan DA’s Office and the New York Attorney General’s Office in connection with their investigations of President Trump, and through the trials themselves,” Cohen wrote on his new platform, “I felt pressured and coerced to only provide information and testimony that would satisfy the government’s desire to build the cases against and secure a judgment and convictions against President Trump.” . . .

Trump demands NY AG James turn over all communications with Michael Cohen after the ex-fixer claimed he was ‘coerced’ 

"President Trump’s lawyers Wednesday demanded the release of all communications between Michael Cohen and New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office in response to a “revelatory” Substack post the ex-fixer made in which he claimed he was “pressured and coerced” to testify against Trump. 

"The 25-page filing comes about a month before Trump’s team is due to file a brief with the New York State Court of Appeals in response to James’ request for the half-billion-dollar civil fraud penalty against the president — which was thrown out last August — to be reinstated

"The president’s legal team called for an order requiring the production of “all records of all communications between Michael D. Cohen” and the Democratic AG and her staff, including interview transcripts, notes, emails, letters and recordings." . . . 

More on this: Michael Cohen’s Confession That Letitia James ‘Pressured and Coerced’ Him To Testify Against Trump Turbocharges President’s Appeal

Melania Trump just took down her first official criminal...

 Revolver News

Scroll to 5:20 for the beginning of the First Lady's speech

. . . "The bill was introduced by Ted Cruz and Democrat Amy Klobuchar, championed by First Lady Melania Trump, and signed into law by President Trump about a year ago. Melania pushed the Take It Down Act as a way to protect both kids and adults from digital abuse. Namely, deepfake images and videos that are being used to humiliate, exploit, and destroy people with the click of a button.

"The first conviction is a 37-year-old man who loaded his phone up with more than two dozen AI platforms and over 100 AI models. He then used texts, phone calls, and online posts to terrorize his victims.

"He targeted at least six adult women with both real and AI-generated nude images. Prosecutors also say he made obscene AI-generated content using the faces of children from his community, then uploaded hundreds of those images and videos to a child sexual abuse website.

The Hill:

First lady Melania Trump lauded the first conviction under the Take It Down Act against nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfakes, thanking federal prosecutors for “protecting Americans from cybercrimes in this new digital age.”

A Columbus, Ohio, man pleaded guilty Tuesday to cybercrimes involving real and AI-generated sexually explicit images, along with violent threats, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

“Today marks the first conviction under the Take It Down Act – protecting victims from non-consensual AI-generated sexually explicit images, cyberstalking, and threats of violence,” the first lady wrote on the social platform X. “Thank you U.S. Attorney Dominick S. Gerace II for protecting Americans from cybercrimes in this new digital age.” . . .

What can be stranger than a Democrat supporter?

Las Vegas Review-Journal

Gavin Newsom says he has led the charge against fraud in California  "We need more Nick Shirleys who expose this rampant fraud. And fewer corrupt politicians who think we will believe anything."

"So, somehow Gavin “Slick” Newsom “led the charge” against fraud in California. And Tampon Timmy Walz implies that he has been anti-fraud all along, and others have been late to the fraud-fighting party.

"Bill Clinton essentially stated that whether or not he was lying depended on what the definition of “is” is. That seems almost quaint now. If he were in keeping with the tactics of today’s Democrats, he would have boldly asserted, “No one in the history of the world has ever fought longer and harder against sexual harassment, impropriety, infidelity, misogyny, and imbalance of power dynamics than I have.'”

 More...

Democrats Go Full Anti-Semite - Civis Americanus   "Gavin Newsom bets antisemitism is the Democratic Party’s future" from the New York Post sums up the entire theme of this article. "Gavin Newsom endorsed the lie Tuesday that Israel is an 'apartheid' state — a damning sign of where the Democratic Party is headed, and how far it’s already sunk."

If Newsom doesn't know that Christian and Muslim Israeli citizens can vote and be elected to the Knesset, and that Israel's laws protect all of its citizens equally, he is incompetent.

"All Israelis are treated equally under the law, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, religion or ethnicity." . .  .

  • This reference adds, "…protesters from the Reverend Sharpton's National Action Network have referred to members of the Jewish faith as 'bloodsucking [J]ews,' and         'Jew bastards…'"  If the Democrat Party needs the kind of vote the NAN can deliver, it doesn't need yours or mine.
Civis Americanus is the pen name of a contributor who remembers the lessons of history, and wants to ensure that our country never needs to learn those lessons again the hard way. He or she is remaining anonymous due to the likely prospect of being subjected to "cancel culture" for exposing the Big Lie behind Black Lives Matter.

Democrats Are Killing the Country with Racism 
. . . "As Root repeatedly points out, Democrat-run states are destroying themselves.  By electing “evil, communist madmen like LA Mayor Karen Bass, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, and NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani,” Democrats have ensured that their cities “will soon collapse and drown in a sea of crime and debt.”  For decades, Root argues, white Americans have left Democrat-controlled cities primarily to avoid rising crime and crippling taxes.  Now they are leaving because Democrats have put targets on their backs." . . .

. . . "Democrat mayors, governors, and presidential hopefuls now explicitly tell us that they will never stop taking from white people in the name of false “justice.”  They will never stop dividing Americans by skin color.  They will never just treat all of us as “unhyphenated Americans,” as the late, great Lloyd Marcus used to call himself." . . .  

 

Monday's Swalwell report

No, it wasn’t the beauty of our constitutional republic that killed the grubby, foul-smelling Swalwell’s campaign to run California.  It was the Democrat beast.  And it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy...with a worse beard."  Pete McArdle

AfterMath - Home

Dems take down one of their own  
"How delicious — the sad, sudden end of Eric “The Flatulator” Swalwell’s political career.

"Why do I say “end”?  Because it was an inside job.

"Behind closed doors, Democrat power brokers, for whatever reasons, made the decision to terminate Rep. Swalwell’s bid for governor of California.  And the same old plot that’s used, mainly against Republicans, got called into action, this time against a disfavored Democrat.

"It starts with allegations from the past of rape and sexual harassment, beginning with the most lurid, served with a side of “believe all women.”  Then more victims suddenly come forward.  Strength in numbers.

"Here’s where you know the call came from inside the house.  Normally a Democrat candidate for high office gets his posterior both bussed and protected by the mendacious left-wing media.  Traditionally, the media would have given these sex crime allegations a good leaving alone, as they typically do, say, with the murder of an American woman committed by an unvetted illegal.

"But in Rep. Swalwell’s case, they did not.  Not only was the story widely covered by the normally incurious media, but it was also presented using eerily similar language, as if writers, radio commentators, and TV talking heads were all working from the same script.

"How do they do that?  I don’t know!

"They used the same words, the same lame asides, and all parroted the same fateful conclusion: Swalwell must drop out of the California gubernatorial race."

Over 50 Former Eric Swalwell Staffers Call for His Resignation  

. . . "After calling for a full investigation into the matter, the former staffers ultimately concluded that Swalwell should not only drop from the California governor race but also resign from Congress." . . . 

Report: Billionaire Kicks Swalwell Out of Mansion, Wants $1M in Donations Back Following Rape Allegations  "Stephen Cloobeck, the billionaire and former California governor hopeful who dropped out of the race to fund disgraced Rep. Eric Swalwell’s (D-CA) gubernatorial campaign, has kicked the congressman out of his mansion and reportedly wants his $1 million in donations back after multiple women accused him of sexual assault and misconduct." . . .  

The Morning Briefing: Eric Swalwell's Gubernatorial Bid Gets Hit By the #MeToo Train  

"Few politicians in my lifetime have oozed more sleaze than Eric Swalwell, so none of this is surprising. His fall from grace comes with extra helpings of schadenfreude because Swalwell is also a persistent, combative, and smug presence on social media." 

What's Happening in CA's Gubernatorial Race Perfectly Captures the State's Politics  . . . "Getting Swalwell completely out of politics seems like it would be overwhelmingly positive for the United States of America, but these are the 21st-century Democrats we're talking about here. As I have written on many occasions, the Democrats always have someone worse waiting in the wings. In this case, someone much, much worse. My Twitchy colleague Warren Squire writes that former Vice President Kamala Harris may be jumping into the governor's race in California now that Swalwell is out."  . . .

The American Spectator