Swalwell’s Donors Want Out—And Are Asking Where the Money Went

Swalwell’s Donors Want Out—And Are Asking Where the Money Went

From The Tara Palmeri Show by Tara Palmeri

April 16, 2026 · 33 min

About this episode

Tara Palmeri and Nomiki Konst discuss the fallout from Eric Swalwell's controversies, including donor demands for refunds and allegations of misconduct.

Tara calls in from Perugia, Italy and Nomiki Konst joins from Barcelona for a deep dive into the Eric Swalwell fallout. Donors are furious and demanding their money back, a billionaire backer is suing to claw back $1 million, and the former congressman's gubernatorial campaign is dead. Nomiki shares her own story of Swalwell aggressively flirting with her at a DNC meeting in 2018 — in full view of party leadership — raising the question of what Democrats knew and when. They also discuss the modeling industry's trafficking pipeline, how visa control keeps women trapped, Amanda Angara's explosive allegations, and why MeToo didn't go far enough the first time around. Read the full story: https://open.substack.com/pub/tarapalmeri/p/exclusive-swalwell-donors-are-calling?r=1ili3&utm_medium=ios 1:10 – Brave women and citizen journalists broke the story first 2:49 – The rape allegation: hotel, strangulation, and campaign finance receipts that match 3:42 – Donors want their money back — the non-disparagement agreement from Politico 6:58 – Nomiki's own story: Swalwell buying her prosecco and getting touchy at a DNC meeting in 2018 8:39 – Six years later he shows up in her DMs — "I…

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