Guest post by Joel Gilbert
‘Dead in the water’ is the only accurate description of Congressman Eric Swalwell’s campaign for California governor.
Two weeks ago in my article in the Gateway Pundit, “DISQUALIFIED! – Congressman Eric Swalwell Names Washington, DC Home as ‘Principal Residence,’ I documented that Swalwell is ineligible for the California governorship because he is in violation of the California Constitution and Election Law 349, which requires candidates to make California their “domicile” for 5 years prior to an election. Days later, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte referred Swalwell to the Department of Justice for potential mortgage fraud violations.
Late last week in response, Swalwell posted a video on Twitter/X attempting to regain control of the narrative, announcing his filing of a civil lawsuit against Pulte and the FHFA.
“I’ve decided to go on offense. Donald Trump is weaponizing the Department of Justice against his political opponents… So I have brought a privacy suit and a First Amendment retaliation suit against the administration. I hope you take a look at it.”
WATCH:
I’ve decided to go on offense. pic.twitter.com/CmJmyko4U9
— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) November 27, 2025
The lawsuit reads like a campaign speech, with Swalwell arguing, “I was an impeachment manager.”
The lawsuit consists of only two legal allegations:
- That Director Pulte, by referencing his public mortgage paperwork in the DOJ referral, violated the Privacy Act and the First Amendment, claiming the publicly available document was “private”; and
- That Swalwell had included a sworn affidavit with his mortgage stating his D.C. residence was “his wife’s” primary residence rather than his own.
Both claims are baseless and completely without merit.
Every mortgage executed in Washington, D.C., including Swalwell’s, appears on the public database mytax.dc.gov.
I accessed and downloaded Swalwell’s Deed of Trust for his 209 S Street NE home and published it multiple times in The Gateway Pundit. This document is public by law and has been available online for years.
Director Bill Pulte merely referenced the same public file in his DOJ referral. Under the law, there is no “privacy” to violate.
Swalwell’s claim that his privacy was violated is not only meritless, but it’s also embarrassingly unserious, and exposes his lawsuit as a political smokescreen to feed the left-leaning media with a narrative to distract the public from the real issue: Swalwell’s violation of California residency requirements.
As for his second claim, Swalwell did not include his alleged affidavit as an exhibit in his lawsuit, almost certainly because it does not exist.
In fact, Swalwell’s online Deed of Trust contains no language whatsoever in which Eric Swalwell disclaims that the property will be his principal residence, nor does it include any affidavit, rider, or statement indicating that the home will be used exclusively by his wife or that he will not live there.
Both Eric Michael Swalwell and Brittany Watts Swalwell are listed jointly as “Borrower,” they jointly sign the Deed of Trust, and the only affidavit they sign pertains solely to D.C. tax classification for a residential property.
In short, the mortgage contains no disclaimer from Swalwell and includes no language assigning the home to his wife alone.
The public Deed of Trust for Swalwell’s DC home, dated April 18, 2022, confirms the property is designated as his “principal residence” as a condition of the loan.
Clause 8 of the document includes the line “Material representations include, but are not limited to, representations concerning Borrower’s occupancy of the Property as Borrower’s principal residence.”
In the Deed of Trust, Swalwell and his wife are listed as the borrowers. The document is a District of Columbia Deed of Trust, and it contains the standard federal Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac provisions for owner-occupant primary residence declarations.
Even if Swalwell mailed a self-serving “affidavit” to his lender at some later date in hopes he could still run for governor of California, such a document would be legally meaningless.
Affidavits do not supersede, void, negate, nor modify any clear written terms of a fully executed contract. A borrower cannot unilaterally rewrite a mortgage via affidavit.
This is rooted in the “Parol Evidence Rule.” The rule is based on the principle that once a contract is reduced to a final written document, the parties are bound by its terms.
Further, affidavits must be explicitly referenced and incorporated into original mortgage documents, executed by both parties, or tied to a condition of approval.
It cannot negate any clause in the mortgage agreement. Therefore, any affidavit added by Swalwell would not modify the mutually agreed principal residence occupancy clause.
By signing a mortgage declaring the D.C. property as his principal residence, Swalwell confirmed under law that Washington, D.C., is his domicile.
That alone disqualifies him from the California governor’s race under the California Constitution and California Elections Code 349.
This means that Swalwell is legally disqualified from becoming governor and must withdraw his announcement immediately.
I already filed a formal complaint with the Secretary of State of California demanding Swalwell’s removal from the ballot.
Swalwell’s lawsuit is not a principled defense of his constitutional rights. It is a panicked, last-ditch publicity stunt to rescue his collapsing candidacy.
The facts are straightforward, the documents speak for themselves, and the law is unambiguous.
No corrupt federal judge and no political spin undo Swalwell’s own sworn designation of Washington, D.C., as his principal residence.
California requires its governor to be a resident of California. Swalwell is not. His lawsuit is not only meritless, it is an insult to voters’ intelligence and a cynical bid to stall the inevitable.
The only lawful path forward is clear. Eric Swalwell must remove himself or be removed from the California governor’s race immediately. No frivolous lawsuit based on ridiculous allegations can save Swalwell from his own sworn documents.
Joel Gilbert is a Los Angeles-based film producer and president of Highway 61 Entertainment. He is the producer of the new film Roseanne Barr Is America. He is also the producer of: Dreams from My Real Father, The Trayvon Hoax, Trump: The Art of the Insult, and many other films on American politics and music icons. Gilbert is on Twitter: @JoelSGilbert.
The post Eric Swalwell’s Last Stand: A Frivolous Lawsuit to Distract from His Disqualification for California Governor appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.