Comedian and HBO host Bill Maher joined in the wave of renewed scrutiny
around former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who he described as a ?f*cking
creep? ? which has prompted fresh debate in Washington over how long allegations and rumors can circulate inside political and media circles
before ever becoming public.

Swalwell, once a prominent Democratic figure and frequent cable news
guest during the Trump era, saw his political career collapse in a
matter of days earlier this month after a series of sexual misconduct allegations surfaced publicly, including claims of rape and sexual
assault. He has since suspended his California gubernatorial campaign, resigned from Congress, and acknowledged ?mistakes? while denying the
more serious accusations.

The speed of that fall has only intensified questions about what was
known, and when. That surfaced again on Saturday when Bill Maher
addressed the situation on air, describing what he said was a long-
standing perception of Swalwell that never made it into mainstream
reporting until recently.

WATCH:

Bill Maher on Eric Swalwell: "We had him on a couple of times.
Ask my staff: I never liked him. I don?t have good gaydar ? but
I got creepdar. I always thought this guy was a f*cking creep.
I never liked him."

https://x.com/JasonJournoDC/status/2045491220541997305

?Speaking of creepy stuff, have you been following the Eric Swalwell
case here in California?? Maher said. ?I got to say, we had him on a
couple of times. Ask my staff. I never liked him. I don?t have good
gaydar, but I got creepdar. I always thought this guy was a f*cking
creep.?

Maher then broadened the point beyond Swalwell himself, arguing that
similar patterns have played out repeatedly in American politics.

?I hear this so many times,? he said, pointing to figures like Bill
Clinton, Bill Cosby, and Harvey Weinstein. ?You know, it was an open
secret in Arkansas. It was an open secret,? he said of Clinton-era allegations, drawing a comparison to other long-circulating claims that
only later became public scandals.

?What is going on here, where it takes so long for the open secret to
become public?? Maher asked. ?I seem to remember that back in the old
days ? when JFK was President, we heard, well, the media used to
protect politicians, and they knew what JFK was doing, but it was just something they didn?t report on. Is it any different now? Apparently
not.?

The reference to John F. Kennedy underscored Maher?s broader argument:
that media institutions, while more expansive today, still exercise
selective judgment over what becomes public and when. Those comments
come as new reporting and commentary continue to surface suggesting
that concerns about Swalwell?s conduct were known inside political and
media circles.

Former Democratic strategist Michael Trujillo warned in a now-deleted
post that Swalwell?s past behavior would eventually surface during his gubernatorial run, referencing allegations involving interns and
inappropriate conduct. Trujillo later said he removed the post after
receiving a cease-and-desist letter from Swalwell?s campaign.

Separately, Politico reported that Swalwell had ?developed a reputation
for unsavory and sometimes unwanted behavior toward women,? citing what
it described as longstanding ?whisper networks? among political
insiders that rarely extended into public reporting.

The result is a familiar pattern in which reputational information
circulates informally inside elite political and media environments but remains unreported until it becomes politically unavoidable.

That dynamic is now drawing renewed attention as Swalwell?s career
unravels in real time, with questions mounting not only about the
allegations themselves, but about why they took so long to surface
publicly in a sustained way. And as that debate continues to grow, one question is increasingly hanging over the story: if everyone in
Washington and California knew, why didn?t anyone say anything sooner?

[Takes one to know one, I guess, but I don't remember Maher saying
anything before now.]

--
Democrats and the liberal media hate President Trump more than they
love this country.


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