Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales Leave Congress Flush With Campaign Funds

Hundreds of thousands of dollars are still sitting in the political committees of two lawmakers who resigned from Congress this week.

Former Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Republican from Texas, had more than $327,000 in his campaign’s coffers at the end of March, according to the campaign’s latest report to the Federal Election Commission. His leadership PAC, the Honor Courage Commitment PAC, had more than $208,000 in cash on hand at the end of February.

The House campaign committee of former Rep. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California, had more than $288,600 in cash on hand. His leadership PAC, Remedy PAC, had more than $32,000 in cash on hand at the end of February.

Staffers quit en masse after several women last week accused Swalwell of sexual assault and misconduct. Swalwell and Gonzales, who admitted to having an affair with a married staffer who later died by self-immolation, both resigned rather than face possible expulsion votes.

Candidates are not allowed to spend campaign funds for personal use, but there are several things the Swalwell and Gonzales campaigns can do with the remaining cash on hand.

According to FEC rules, they can use excess funds to cover “winding down” costs including moving expenses, committee staff payments and gifts to people who are not family. They can also donate the money to charity, party committees or state-and-local candidates. They may also disgorge it to the U.S. Treasury’s general fund or just keep it idle in their accounts.

Rules for leadership PACs are less stringent. In extreme cases, lawmakers and former lawmakers have used leadership PACs to pay for luxury travel, golf, club-membership dues and fine dining.

Contacts for Swalwell’s and Gonzales’ campaigns did not respond to questions from NOTUS about what they plan to do with the excess funds.

But since the accusations against Swalwell came to light, Democratic candidates and committees have been returning previous contributions from his campaign and PAC. Politico reported that Democrats have also been cutting ties with Swalwell’s AI startup Findraiser, which NOTUS revealed Swalwell had been peddling to fellow lawmakers and staff, potentially violating House ethics rules.

Swalwell suspended his California gubernatorial campaign over the weekend after the San Francisco Chronicle broke the news that a former staffer had accused the congressman of having sex with her when she was too intoxicated to consent.

Three other women told CNN, which also reported the sexual assault allegations, that Swalwell had sent unsolicited nude photos and sexual messages.

The response to Swalwell’s alleged wrongdoings was swift.

But Gonzales’ political downfall was a slower burn.

In February, the San Antonio Express-News reported that Gonzales had an affair with a married staffer who died by self-immolation last year. Gonzales initially denied the affair. But he eventually admitted to the affair after his March primary election against right-wing influencer Brandon Herrera went to a runoff, which was set for May 26.

Even after the news of the affair broke, Gonzales’ campaign continued to raise money, according to his latest FEC report.

From Feb. 17, the day the San Antonio Express-News published its story, until the end of March, Gonzales’ campaign received more than $322,000 from individuals and PACs.

But at the end of March, after Gonzales announced he would not seek reelection, the campaign refunded individual donors $424,907 and gave another $70,000 back to political campaigns and committees. Refunds were given to those who contributed in both the primary and general elections.

Gonzales’ leadership PAC, which did not report raising any money in February, will file its report for March on Monday.

Meanwhile, two other members of Congress who themselves are facing calls to resign — Reps. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and Cory Mills, both of Florida — posted dismal campaign fundraising numbers for the year’s first quarter.