Topless Camel Romp an Early Hint: Bosom Buddies Swalwell and Gallego Lack Leadership Ethics

Apr 17, 2026
Beth Brelje
Corruption Watch | Commentary

Sen. Gallego’s long devotion to Swalwell says more than his 11th-hour condemnation.

As disgraced former California gubernatorial candidate Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) goes down in flames, it will be shocking if he doesn’t take his best bro, Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), with him.

After a damning San Francisco Chronicle article alleging Swalwell, 45, sexually assaulted a female employee, Swalwell denied the allegations but hastily dropped out of the California governor’s race. With mounting pressure and the announcement of a House Committee on Ethics investigation, Swalwell abruptly quit his gig representing California’s 14th Congressional District.

Since then, Gallego has been paddling like mad to create distance between Swalwell and himself.

First, Gallego posted on social media that he regrets defending Swalwell before knowing all the information. Then he posted again, saying his buddy should be expelled from Congress.

“I trusted someone who I believed was a friend, but it is now clear that he is not the person I thought I knew,” Gallego said, as if there were no signs of debauchery until this single, political moment.

The pressure has been immense for Gallego to explain how much he knew about Swalwell’s behavior, whether he engaged in similar acts, and why he said nothing about it. In Congress, friendships end when connections become liabilities. Gallego is trying to convince everyone he won’t be going on any more playdates with Swalwell.

Things have gone from bad to worse for their political careers, as an alleged victim went on national television and described Swalwell raping her. She said Swalwell’s wife was pregnant at the time.

Sunning Nipples in Qatar

Gallego and Swalwell have been thick as thieves for a long time. In 2019, Swalwell named Gallego national chairman of his failed 2020 presidential campaign.

Gallego called Swalwell “the perfect candidate to lead our nation.” And Swalwell returned the compliments.

“Ruben is a dear friend,” Swalwell said when announcing the appointment, noting that the pair had traveled the country together and babysat each other’s kids. That must have been before Swalwell allegedly hired an illegal alien from Brazil as his nanny—a matter the Department of Homeland Security is now investigating, according to media reports.

The two have donated thousands of dollars to each other's political campaigns.

Gallego and Swalwell traveled to Qatar as members of Congress in 2021 with Swalwell’s wife and Gallego’s then-fiancée, Sydney Barron. Not long before the trip, Gallego served his pregnant wife with divorce papers and demanded she pay court costs and his attorney’s fees.  

Evidently, both men are totally blind to the vulnerability women experience in pregnancy. But that crass stance is to be expected from men who are pro-abortion.    

Swalwell’s and Gallego’s 2021 trip was funded by the U.S.-Qatar Business Council. They stayed at a hotel frequented by Hamas and went for a camelback ride on which the men wore shortie-shorts and no shirts. These high-level representatives of the United States were the ugliest of Americans, disrespecting their host country’s customs.

Foreigners “should avoid wearing shorts and going around topless in public,” in Qatar, advises Dubai-based UAE Medical Insurance. But Swalwell and Gallego didn’t care about the optics back then—they were too busy doing what feels good.

No respect for marriage vows, no reverence for a conservative host’s culture, no moral compass. When this is how American leaders act in public, we should not be surprised at what they normalize in private.

‘Protect My Family’

Why didn’t Gallego end his loyalty to Swalwell when news of his affair with a Chinese spy named Fang Fang surfaced in 2023? The Fang Fang fling got Swalwell kicked off the House Intelligence Committee, but his friendship with Gallego endured.  

It’s the same reason Democrats didn’t oust Swalwell sooner—as long as he was a dependable Democratic vote, Swalwell was welcome to draw the news cycle away from others.

Finally, the media is asking Gallego how it is possible he did not know about Swalwell’s behavior. Now that he is being measured by the company he has kept, Gallego is full of excuses: “I want to protect my family. I want to protect my family’s reputation.”

You know, just like he protected his pregnant wife and baby in the middle of an ugly divorce. Sure. Gallego is all about protecting loved ones. Mainly himself.

Shaming Swalwell into resigning didn’t happen because Democrats suddenly care about women. They were fine with his many previous problems. Once Swalwell’s numbers tanked in the California governor’s race, they wanted him out. If it looked like he could still win, he would still be in the mix. Now, everyone is scrambling to distance themselves, including his best bud, Gallego.

But the vacation pics don’t lie. These Democrats are cut from the same cloth.

If Gallego were a man of integrity, he would have had the discernment to ditch Swalwell a long time ago.

Most men and women in the United States go to work every day, manage to keep their clothes on, and don’t even think about sex with colleagues or committing possible crimes. They are called constituents, and they are really tired of tolerating overpaid, underworked congressmen who abuse the power of their positions.

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Beth Brelje is a Senior Political Investigator for Restoration News, focusing on state and federal elections, laws, legislation and the effects policies have on us all. She has nearly 40 years of media experience. 

Email Beth here.

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