In this screenshot taken from a Congress.gov webcast, impeachment manager Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., speaks during the second day of President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial at the Capitol in Washington on Feb. 10, 2021.
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Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., has dropped his lawsuit against Bill Pulte, who accused the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency of weaponizing a mortgage fraud investigation to target critics of President Donald Trump.
Swalwell – a California gubernatorial candidate – filed a lawsuit in November, arguing that Pulte unlawfully accessed and disclosed his private mortgage records in violation of federal privacy laws and the First Amendment’s “prohibition on viewpoint-based retaliation.”
“Director Pulte has searched the private records of political opponents to silence them,” Swalwell posted in a statement on X at the time.
Swalwell, a seven-time congressman and House impeachment manager during Trump’s second impeachment, has long been one of the president’s most vocal critics.
Pulte referred Swalwell to the Justice Department over claims that the congressman may have made false or misleading statements in the loan documents for the Washington home. Swalwell called the claims “patently false”.
Swalwell’s decision to drop the lawsuit comes as his gubernatorial opponents have questioned his eligibility to run for California’s top post, with rival Democrat Tom Steyer accusing Swalwell of being in California “only on paper.”
A separate lawsuit attempting to block Swalwell from appearing on the ballot, brought by conservative filmmaker Joel Gilbert, was temporarily dismissed Friday after a California judge found enough evidence that he had lived in the state for the required five years.
Pulte did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Swalwell campaign also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
