{"id":71883,"date":"2026-04-16T08:00:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T13:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/16\/flashback-swalwell-touted-epstein-survivor-as-sotu-guest-weeks-before-sexual-assault-allegations-emerged\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T08:00:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T13:00:13","slug":"flashback-swalwell-touted-epstein-survivor-as-sotu-guest-weeks-before-sexual-assault-allegations-emerged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/16\/flashback-swalwell-touted-epstein-survivor-as-sotu-guest-weeks-before-sexual-assault-allegations-emerged\/","title":{"rendered":"FLASHBACK: Swalwell touted Epstein survivor as SOTU guest weeks before sexual assault allegations emerged"},"content":{"rendered":"

Weeks after now-former Rep. Eric Swalwell,<\/a> D-Calif., invited an Epstein survivor to attend the State of the Union earlier this year in an attempt to highlight victims of sexual abuse, his political career collapsed after multiple women accused him of sexual assault.<\/p>\n

“Like every American, I want the President to do his job. I have always attended the State of the Union, and I will again tonight. I invited Teresa Helm as my guest because she has been waiting for justice for more than two decades,” Swalwell said in a press release,<\/a> referring to Teresa Helm, his guest.<\/p>\n

“Teresa\u2019s bravery exposed the Epstein cover-up. The President owes her \u2014 and all survivors \u2014 answers,” Swalwell added.<\/p>\n

Weeks later, Swalwell would ultimately suspend his gubernatorial campaign and resign his seat<\/a> in the U.S. House of Representatives over women who exposed his own improprieties.<\/p>\n

SWALWELL ACCUSERS DETAIL EXPERIENCES WITH LAWMAKER AFTER HE ANNOUNCES HIS RESIGNATION FROM CONGRESS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Bombshell reporting from CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle last Friday recounted allegations from several women,<\/a> providing detailed accounts of how Swalwell had pursued intoxicated women, pressured employees into intimate situations and asked for explicit images from female contacts.<\/p>\n

Swalwell\u2019s office<\/a> did not respond to requests for inquiries from Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n

Helm serves as survivor services coordinator at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation<\/a> (NCOSE), where she partners with survivors of abuse to hold corporations and individuals who profited from and facilitated their exploitation accountable.<\/p>\n

KASH PATEL TAUNTS SWALWELL WITH FBI SIT-DOWN AS RESIGNATION FALLOUT GROWS<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Helm, a survivor of Epstein\u2019s sex trafficking, had urged lawmakers to release the Epstein files in the lead-up to the 2026 State of the Union Address.<\/a><\/p>\n

“At the heart of this matter is HUMAN DIGNITY and JUSTICE FOR ALL,” Helm said in a press release ahead of the State of the Union.<\/p>\n

Epstein, a financier with a prolific social circle, rubbed shoulders with the rich and powerful, including figures like Bill Gates, former President Bill Clinton, President Donald Trump,<\/a> billionaire Les Wexner and the United Kingdom\u2019s Prince Andrew.<\/p>\n

Epstein died while incarcerated<\/a> in 2019 on charges of sex-trafficking minors, leaving behind questions of whether he used his wide-ranging contacts to facilitate illegal sexual encounters.<\/p>\n

Swalwell, like a wide range of lawmakers from both parties, had urged the Justice Department to publicly release documentation on its investigation of Epstein, arguing for public accountability on the matter.<\/p>\n

Helm echoed those calls.<\/p>\n

SWALWELL’S ‘BEST FRIEND’ IN CONGRESS TURNS ON HIM AFTER BOMBSHELL ALLEGATIONS TORPEDO HIS POLITICAL CAREER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“It is crucial to join forces, lead by example and continue lighting the way for generations to come. To me, it is both an assignment and an honor to be a guest here today at the 2026 State of the Union Address,” Helm said.<\/p>\n

Fox News Digital reached out to Helm for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Weeks after now-former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., invited an Epstein survivor to attend the State of the Union earlier this year in an attempt to highlight victims of sexual abuse, his political career collapsed after multiple women accused him of sexual assault. “Like every American, I want the President to do his job. I have … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71883","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71883"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71883\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71883"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71883"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news2shorts.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71883"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}