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Swalwell governor bid hit with residency questions after court filing alleges he doesn’t live in California
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Longtime political foe of President Donald Trump Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell is facing a legal campaign challenge after a conservative activist filed a petition claiming the lawmaker is allegedly prohibited from running for California governor because he doesn’t actually live in the Golden State.
«Public records searches reveal no current ownership or leasehold interest held by Eric Swalwell in California, nor any history of any ownership of leasehold interest based on available public records,» a petition filed Jan. 8 by filmmaker and activist Joel Gilbert states, the New York Post reported.
«Swalwell’s congressional financial disclosers from 2011 to 2024 list no California real estate ownership,» the petition added.
The left-wing lawmaker’s gubernatorial campaign, however, has hit back at the petition as a «nonsense claim» that the team looks forward to «beating» in court.
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Representative Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., is suing a Trump official after he was criminally referred to the Department of Justice. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Swalwell has served as a California congressman since 2013, and announced his candidacy to succeed Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom when his second term ends in January 2027. The gubernatorial race already is crowded with at least 10 candidates slated to be on the ballot in the nonpartisan primary in June.
Swalwell is viewed as a front-runner as the race gets underway.
The court filing claims that the congressman listed the address for the office of his attorney on campaign filings and not a residential California address. The address listed in the court filing shows an office building in downtown Sacramento.
State law requires the California governor be a resident of the state five years prior to his or her election.
«The governor shall be an elector who has been a citizen of the United States and a resident of this state for 5 years immediately preceding the governor’s election,» the filing states, outlining the California Constitution’s residential requirements of governors.
President Donald Trump pumps his fist at Christmas Eve dinner at his Mar-a-Lago club, Wednesday, Dec. 24, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
When approached for comment on the matter, a campaign general consultant for Swalwell said the lawmaker has always resided in California across his political career and that his attorney’s address was listed on the campaign filing due to death threats he has received.
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«Since joining Congress, Eric Swalwell has always had a residence in the Bay Area. He has always had a California driver’s license, paid California taxes, and starts his California mornings with Johnny’s Donuts maple bars in Dublin. This nonsense claim comes from a MAGA blogger who made a film claiming Elvis is alive. We look forward to beating him in court,» Kate Maeder, Swalwell campaign consultant, told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement Monday morning.
«Because of the thousands of death threats the Congressman has received, it is perfectly legal to list a campaign office as the address for his legal filings,» she added.
Gilbert’s petition calls on the California secretary of state to «fulfill her constitutional duty» and disqualify Swalwell from the race.
«The criteria for running for governor of California according to the California Constitution is a candidate must be resident of the state for 5 years prior to the election,» Gilbert told Fox Digital in additional comment on Monday afternoon. «Swalwell’s response that he has a California driver’s license or pays California taxes or went to a Donut shop in Dubin is irrelevant and a smoke screen. He’s a lawyer and should know better.»
The director added in response to Swalwell’s campaign: «My film about Elvis is a comedy! Swalwell is clueless every time he Tweets or opens his mouth or files a document!»
The director added that the campaign’s response was «absurd» as it related to «beating» Gilbert in court, as Swalwell is not being sued, and instead the filing calls on the California secretary of state to respond.
«He clearly doesn’t understand the law at all despite being an attorney,» Gilbert said, before doubling down that candidates must prove residency on the state’s candidate intention statement.
In November 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) opened a probe into Swalwell’s past mortgages, specifically investigating if allegations of millions of dollars in loans and refinancing were based on Swalwell declaring that his primary residence was in Washington, D.C.
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Swalwell, Democratic California Sen. Adam Schiff and New York Attorney General Letitita James all have been referred to the DOJ over allegations of mortgage fraud since President Donald Trump’s return to the Oval Office.
Following the DOJ opening a probe into his mortgages, Swalwell filed a lawsuit against Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, who referred Swalwell to the DOJ for criminal review, alleging that he abused his position to obtain the mortgage records of numerous Democrats.
Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) speaks at a press conference on committee assignments. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
«Either he’s guilty of mortgage fraud in Washington, DC, or he’s ineligible to run for governor of California,» Gilbert told the Daily Mail. «He can’t have it both ways.»
Fox News Digital attempted to reach out to Gilbert by email for additional comment on the court filing Monday afternoon.
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The feud between Swalwell and Trump dates to Trump’s first term, when Swalwell emerged as one of the former president’s most vocal congressional critics and served as a House impeachment manager, cementing a long-running political rivalry.
Fox News Digital’s Leo Briceno and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
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A custody hearing in Ada, Oklahoma, last month took a turn for the unexpected — and the incredibly loud — after an attorney who identified himself as transgender was arrested and dragged from the courtroom where he had appeared to represent his client just minutes before.
The exchange occurred during a custody hearing in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, some 90 minutes southeast of Oklahoma City. The attorney, Rob Hopkins, was jailed for contempt after sparring repeatedly with the judge, Lori Jackson, during an otherwise unremarkable proceeding.
Surveillance footage, audio, and body camera footage reviewed by Fox News Digital has shed new light on the extraordinary confrontation, in which Hopkins can be seen actively resisting arrest by bailiffs. At one point, Hopkins can be seen splaying his body across the judge’s bench, resulting in a pile of documents being swept off its finely polished wood surface.
«You’re HURTING ME!» Hopkins bellowed, as bystanders looked on. «I can’t BREATHE!» he shrieked again, louder.
Attendees in the courtroom could be seen looking on quietly as Hopkins twisted, turned, and contorted his body to evade the handcuffs that officers used to restrain him.
«I felt very threatened by this person,» one individual could be heard telling the judge.
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(Surveillance footage provided to Fox News Digital by the Oklahoma District Attorney’s Office, 22nd District.)
The meltdown in question, and the arrest, occurred during a custody hearing punctuated by repeated interruptions from Hopkins and warnings from Jackson that he would be held in contempt.
Hopkins then suggested she was discriminating against him for his transgender status, escalating tensions inside the courtroom.
«It’s because I’m a transgender attorney practicing all over the state,» Hopkins leveled sharply, to which Jackson shot back: «I don’t know what you are.»
«I don’t know you from Adam,» Jackson said later, describing his conduct as «entirely inappropriate.»
Shortly after, bailiffs entered the courtroom, prompting the hearing to descend into complete chaos.
«Do NOT HURT ME!» Hopkins yelled at the officers.
«I’m being thrown down!» he bellowed, as he threw himself on the bench before the officers eventually forced him onto the floor.
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More officers streamed in to help restrain Hopkins, whose uproarious exclamations had, at that point, drawn a crowd — not only in the courtroom, but also in the hallways surrounding it, as the body camera footage shows.
«Get a female officer, now!» Hopkins demanded. «Call 911!» he shrieked, as the officers attempted to place him in handcuffs.
«I can’t breathe! I can’t breathe!» he declared.
From the floor of the court, Hopkins accused the officers of «throwing his glasses» onto the floor — a claim that surveillance footage reviewed by Fox News Digital appears to refute — and ordered the officers to place them back on his face.
«Put them on my face,» Hopkins demanded repeatedly, as the officers attempted to place Hopkins into a seated position and escort him from the court. «PUT THEM ON MY FACE!» Hopkins screamed once more, the volume and urgency unchanged from his request for emergency services just seconds before.
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Rob Hopkins, a transgender lawyer in Oklahoma, was jailed for contempt during a procedural hearing in Ada, Oklahoma, last month after a viral meltdown. ( Oklahoma District Attorney’s Office, 22nd Prosecutorial District.)
Hopkins said he has since shuttered his law firm following the contempt charge and fallout from the hearing.
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He did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment regarding either the proceedings in question or the reason for his firm’s closure.
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The Islamic Republic of Iran took the lives of two men convicted of trying to storm a military facility and access an armory in January, the Mizan news outlet of Iran’s judiciary indicated on Sunday, according to Reuters.
An organization called Iran Human Rights said that the Iranian news agency reported that the two individuals, Mohammad Amin Biglari and Shahin Vahedparast Kolor, were hanged on April 5.
Biglari, a 19-year-old computer science student, Kolor, 30, were arrested with several other individuals on January 8 amid a crackdown against protesters in the nation’s capital city of Tehran, according to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights.
They faced charges that included «‘enmity against God (moharebeh), corruption on earth, arson of public facilities, and assembly and collusion to commit crimes against national security,’» the group indicated.
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An Iranian flag is placed amids rubble and debris next to a destroyed residential building near Ferdowsi square in Tehran on March 3, 2026. ( ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images)
Another individual arrested January 8, 18-year-old Amirhossein Hatami, was hanged on April 2, Iran Human Rights noted, citing the Mizan News Agency.
Ali Fahim, a 23-year-old who was among those arrested on January 8, was executed on April 6, the Hengaw Organization noted on Monday, explaining that the Mizan news agency confirmed the killing.
«These executions are part of the Islamic Republic’s strategy of survival, waging war against its own people under the shadow of external conflict,» Iran Human Rights Director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam noted. «The international community must respond with urgency. The situation of prisoners and the regime’s systematic use of the death penalty as a political tool of repression must be made a central condition in any negotiations or engagement with the Islamic Republic.»
The executions occurred as the U.S. and Israel continue to wage war against Iran.
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US President Donald Trump takes a question from a reporter after signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on March 31, 2026. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images)
In a Sunday Truth Social post, President Donald Trump threatened to attack Iranian power infrastructure and bridges on Tuesday.
He demanded that Iran open the Strait of Hormuz.
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A large plume of smoke rises over Tehran after explosions were reported in the city during the night on March 28, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. (Getty Images)
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«Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F—in’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell – JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah,» the president declared.
world, war with iran, iran
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