FBI agents raided billionaire Stephen Cloobeck’s Beverly Hills mansion early Tuesday in the Eric Swalwell probe, with a senior official tying the search to a sex worker as the former congressman’s circle shrinks.
Agents moved on the home of the longtime Democratic donor and Swalwell backer hours after Cloobeck marked his birthday Monday at a Malibu restaurant, The Post reported. A senior law enforcement official said the raid connected to a sex worker but offered no further details on what investigators sought inside the property.
The search marks another sharp turn in the federal criminal investigation surrounding the former California congressman, who already saw agents seize his phone and laptop and execute warrants at his Washington home. Multiple women have accused him of sexual misconduct. He resigned from Congress and abandoned a gubernatorial bid after the claims surfaced.
Cloobeck had opened his doors and checkbook to Swalwell. That hospitality ended once the allegations went public.
Fox News reported the operation began around 6 a.m. and involved at least two dozen agents. Some carried high-powered rifles and wore night-vision goggles. A source with knowledge of the matter noted Cloobeck kept company servers at the residence, though it remains unclear exactly what the FBI removed.
The mansion had served as more than a crash pad. Swalwell frequently stayed there. He even filmed a video response to the misconduct allegations from inside the home. Cloobeck had spent more than $1 million backing Swalwell’s California governor run, including a maximum $39,200 direct contribution, and covered a private $31,000 trip to France in 2024.
That close tie once ran deeper. Breitbart noted Cloobeck previously called Swalwell his “little brother” and had hosted him at the roughly $25 million property when the April sexual assault allegations first broke. Cloobeck then cut him off.
"I am no longer associated with a man that takes advantage of women."
Cloobeck also said, “I support women’s rights.” He had earlier dropped his own gubernatorial ambitions to clear a path for Swalwell.
The Beverly Hills raid did not arrive in isolation. Back in August, FBI agents surrounded Swalwell at San Francisco International Airport as he left a plane and seized his cellphone and laptop. The next day they executed additional warrants at his Washington, D.C., home and took more potential evidence.
Those earlier steps fit a wider pattern of federal pressure that has already produced device seizures from Swalwell at the San Francisco airport amid the same misconduct probe.
The warrant used in the phone and laptop seizure cited a federal civil-rights statute that can be used against public officials who abuse government power. Breitbart identified it as Section 242 of Title 18, which bars officials from using authority to strip someone of constitutional rights. Reporting described the citation as a signal that investigators may suspect Swalwell used his office to silence women who accused him of sexual misconduct.
Prosecutors in New York and California are also examining the sexual assault allegations. One former staffer accused Swalwell of raping her when she was too intoxicated to consent, according to an account first detailed by the San Francisco Chronicle. Another woman said he drugged and sexually assaulted her in 2018. Two others alleged he sent them unsolicited images of his genitals.
Swalwell has denied wrongdoing. In a statement carried by Fox News he said he would fight “serious false allegations” while taking “responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make.”
Cloobeck faces separate criminal charges of his own. He was charged with three felony counts of attempting to dissuade or prevent a witness or victim from testifying and one misdemeanor count of making annoying phone calls. Those counts stem from a criminal case involving his ex-partner, Adva Lavie, who authorities have accused of using dating apps to steal from wealthy older men.
The billionaire had also been set to marry a “Penthouse Pet” before calling off the wedding amid claims she targeted rich sugar daddies. None of that personal drama changes the core fact of this week’s raid: federal agents treated his Beverly Hills address as relevant to the Swalwell investigation and to a sex-worker thread inside it.
Swalwell’s troubles with federal investigators are not limited to the current misconduct claims. Declassified FBI files on Swalwell’s relationship with suspected Chinese spy Fang Fang already showed how his judgment and associations drew bureau attention years earlier.
Taxpayers expect public officials to face the same rules as everyone else. When a former member of Congress draws parallel tracks of sexual-misconduct accusations, device seizures, home warrants, and now a raid on a major donor’s mansion tied to a sex worker, the process has to run on evidence rather than party loyalty.
Cloobeck’s abrupt break with Swalwell after the allegations broke underlines how quickly political friendships dissolve once the costs become personal. The same house that once hosted campaign support and overnight stays became a search target before sunrise.
Federal investigations into prominent Democrats have repeatedly produced uncomfortable records, whether through FBI material involving Hunter Biden and a Los Angeles sex worker or earlier laptop-related disputes that put bureau handling under scrutiny.
What agents took from the Beverly Hills mansion, and how the sex-worker connection fits the larger case, has not been spelled out. The senior official’s brief confirmation left the operational details sealed. No arrests or new charges tied directly to Tuesday’s raid have been announced.
Still, the sequence is plain. Airport seizure. D.C. warrants. A donor’s mansion hit with rifles and night-vision gear. A former congressman out of office. A billionaire ex-ally publicly washing his hands of him.
Accountability does not pause for party labels or old campaign checks. When the FBI keeps showing up at the homes and devices of a once-rising Democrat, voters are entitled to the facts without the usual protective fog.