(Ben Sellers, Headline USA) Former Arizona senatorial candidate Kari Lake unloaded on her 2024 Democratic rival, Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., amid an unfolding scandal surrounding Gallego’s association with disgraced ex-Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif.
In a cringeworthy press gaggle, Gallego adamantly denied any advance knowledge of Swalwell’s alleged sex crimes, which include multiple accounts from female victims and a video that is believed to involve an underage sex worker.
🚨 OMG. Democrat Sen. Ruben Gallego CONFIRMS HE KNEW RUMORS about Eric Swalwell for YEARS, and he froze up!
Look how flustered he's getting.
"It was flirty…we've heard that throughout."
Q: You heard these rumors for years?
GALLEGO: "Him being flirty."
Q: That wasn't issue… https://t.co/J8NobidgZb pic.twitter.com/PNbiJE4BHN
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) April 14, 2026
Gallego likewise denied that he was the unidentified wingman in the video, which has spurred possible criminal investigations by the federal Justice Department and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
A forensic analysis by Human Events host Jack Posobiec showed a likely match between Gallego and the second man featured in the viral video.
Moreover, prominent behavior analyst Scott Rouse broke down Gallego’s denial of his relationship with Swalwell, calling it “rehearsed.”
“This guy’s about to freak out, he’s so nervous,” Rouse said.
Swalwell was forced to resign when the allegations went public last week, as well as drop his bid to be the next California governor.
However, critics have expressed skepticism over the shock that his Democratic colleagues have expressed over Swalwell, with some saying that the flatulent honeypot mark’s tomcatting was an open secret in political circles.
Yet, Lake said that Gallego’s own secrets went well beyond his bromance with Swalwell.
“Most candidates have a few skeletons,” she wrote in an X post. “Gallego’s opposition file was a massive three-ring binder so heavy I couldn’t lift it.”
I had the dubious honor of running against @RubenGallego — a true scumbag.
I don’t say that lightly.
Most candidates have a few skeletons. Gallego’s opposition file was a massive three-ring binder so heavy I couldn’t lift it.
• He committed mortgage fraud on federal forms,… pic.twitter.com/PqWy6rIQ5f
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) April 17, 2026
Lake cited, among other things, allegations that Gallego committed mortgage fraud and his suspected connections to Mexican drug cartels, as well as an $80,000 vacation Gallego and Swalwell took to Qatar during COVID lockdowns.
Ben Sellers is a freelance writer and former editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/realbensellers.
