FBI raid on Beverly Hills home markets latest escalation in Swalwell criminal inquiry

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation executed a search warrant Tuesday morning at a Beverly Hills mansion as they conduct their ongoing probe into former California Congressman Eric Swalwell, reports indicate.

The search warrant was issued for a home located on North Roxbury Drive and owned by billionaire Stephen Cloobeck, who at one point ran for California governor as well as being a Democratic Party donor. According to Lourdes Arocho, the spokeswoman for the FBI, "agents are executing a search warrant" while court papers remain sealed with no arrests anticipated.

Swalwell, who is a Democrat from Dublin, withdrew from the California governor's race and from Congress in April after accusations surfaced that he had sexually assaulted a former employee as well as behaved inappropriately towards other young women. He denied all accusations.

Cloobeck donated over $1 million to Swalwell in support of his gubernatorial campaign after Swalwell announced his candidacy. According to reports, Swalwell had been residing in the Beverly Hills mansion and conducting political meetings from it until Cloobeck booted him out after the accusations.

This latest raid is just one part of an extensive federal investigation. In August, agents seized Swalwell's electronics and raided his Washington residence, briefly holding him at San Francisco International Airport. According to court documents, investigators believe that Swalwell may have violated federal civil rights law by engaging in conduct under colour of governmental authority. Separate investigations in New York and Los Angeles County are underway.

Cloobeck, who at age 64 made his fortune in the timeshare industry after selling his Diamond Resorts company, which is based in Las Vegas, for $2.2 billion, was arrested in May on charges of having allegedly sought to obstruct a victim or witness.

The FBI's Los Angeles field office verified that the raid had occurred in relation to "an ongoing criminal investigation," although a Justice Department spokeswoman did not disclose any more information. The search warrant affidavit remains under seal.