Dem Rep Swalwell & GOP Rep Gonzales resign amid sex scandals

[0:00] Republican Congressman Tony [0:01] Gonzalez of Texas has just [0:03] confirmed he plans to retire [0:04] from Congress. I want to go [0:05] straight back to CNN's Mano [0:06] Raju on Capitol Hill, Mano. [0:08] Yeah, this has been a scandal [0:11] that has engulfed this [0:13] Congressman for several weeks [0:15] in the aftermath of [0:16] revelations that he had an [0:18] extramarital affair with his [0:20] aide. That aide later died by [0:22] suicide. Initially, Tony [0:24] Gonzalez had denied having any [0:26] sort of extramarital affair, [0:27] but as the allegations were [0:29] mounting, he admitted to that. [0:30] Then he decided not to run for [0:32] reelection and he indicated [0:33] repeatedly that he would not [0:35] resign his seat from the House. [0:37] But moments after the decision [0:39] by Eric Swalwell caught up in a [0:41] separate sexual misconduct [0:42] scandal, Gonzalez himself [0:44] making the decision to resign [0:46] following Eric Swalwell's [0:48] decision to resign, Gonzalez [0:50] himself saying he will step [0:51] down from Congress, saying on [0:53] X, saying there's a season for [0:55] everything and God has a plan for [0:57] us all. When Congress returns [0:59] tomorrow, I will file my [1:01] retirement from office. [1:03] It has been my privilege to [1:04] serve the great people of Texas. [1:07] Now, the decision by both [1:09] Gonzalez and Swalwell has a [1:10] couple of key ramifications, [1:12] one of which is that they both [1:14] can avoid a House ethics probe. [1:16] Both men were facing an [1:17] investigation, but now that [1:19] members are no longer serving [1:21] in the House, that committee, [1:23] the ethics committee, no longer [1:24] has jurisdiction over those [1:26] members and expect that those [1:27] investigations essentially to go [1:29] away. Also, both men were [1:31] facing expulsion votes in the [1:33] United States House. [1:33] That potentially could have [1:35] succeeded. It would have [1:36] required two-thirds majority [1:38] in the United States House to go [1:39] ahead. And both of those [1:41] members clearly looking to avoid [1:44] that possibility here. [1:46] But Gonzalez had decided to stay [1:48] on as a result of perhaps the [1:52] Republican leadership not calling [1:53] on him to step aside because [1:55] Anderson, as you know, this is [1:56] the narrowest of majorities in [1:58] the United States House. [1:59] Had Eric Swalwell still been a [2:01] member of Congress and Gonzalez [2:03] had resigned, Johnson would have [2:05] zero margin for error. [2:06] He could not afford a single [2:07] defection in the United States [2:09] House. But now that Eric Swalwell [2:11] has resigned and Gonzalez plans to [2:13] do the same, that means that [2:15] Johnson can still afford to lose [2:16] one Republican vote on a party-line [2:18] vote, which shows you how every [2:20] seat is so critical in the narrowly [2:22] divided Republican House. [2:24] Thanks very much. [2:25] Were you surprised by this? [2:27] Honestly, with great power comes [2:30] great responsibility, right? [2:31] And so if you are in a position of [2:33] power and you utilize that power [2:35] in a way that sexual assault [2:37] becomes a thing, it's just not [2:38] appropriate. [2:40] And, you know, a serious [2:41] investigation needs to take place [2:42] in something like this. [2:44] It needs to be thoroughly [2:44] investigated. And I think that's [2:46] what's going to exactly happen. [2:47] Sure, Michael, you know, [2:49] Tony Gonzalez, this has been [2:50] going on for a while. [2:53] It seems like Swalwell announcing [2:56] is what made it, I don't know [2:58] if it's made it possible for him [3:00] sort of from a political standpoint, [3:02] because it wouldn't necessarily [3:03] change the balance of power. [3:05] He seemed to invoke God [3:06] in his statement, but why now? [3:10] Yeah, the irony of invoking God [3:13] after the woman that he was alleged [3:15] to have had an inappropriate [3:17] relationship with killed herself, [3:19] a lady who was married, family, [3:21] friends who cared deeply about her. [3:23] I mean, this is pretty despicable. [3:25] What's unfortunate about all [3:26] of this to me, though, [3:27] Anderson, let's just put the [3:28] politics to the side. [3:29] There's been over 17 million [3:31] dollars or roughly 17 million [3:32] dollars in payouts from members [3:34] of Congress on both sides [3:35] to keep quiet sexual assault. [3:38] I believe Nancy Mace out of South [3:39] Carolina had a bill, I think, [3:41] a month ago that she attempted to [3:43] get passed in Congress to reveal [3:45] who are these members who have paid [3:46] out after being alleged to have had [3:50] inappropriate relations with [3:51] their staff members. [3:53] And Congress voted against [3:55] disclosing who those members are [3:57] and were if some of them are now [3:59] out of Congress. [4:00] Just imagine that taxpayer dollars [4:02] paying to cover up this type of [4:04] atrocious behavior by the [4:06] representatives that we elect [4:08] to serve our interests. [4:09] It just doesn't make any sense to me. [4:12] It falls below despicable. [4:14] And I'm saying this as a conservative, [4:16] I don't look at this as a right or a [4:18] left thing. [4:18] I have a one year old daughter now. [4:20] And to me, when I think about [4:22] powerful men doing things against [4:24] women who are subordinate to them, [4:27] who can't really defend themselves, [4:29] who may be afraid to speak up because [4:30] they don't want to lose their jobs. [4:33] And then our elected officials on [4:34] both sides had an opportunity to say, [4:35] you know what, we're not going to [4:36] stand for this anymore. [4:38] We're going to disclose the names. [4:39] We're no longer going to pay out to [4:41] protect powerful people. [4:43] And they decided to bury it. [4:45] Just imagine that, Anderson. [4:46] In what universe would a moral society [4:48] say that that is acceptable, [4:50] that that is okay? [4:51] It's bizarre to me, Chris, [4:54] I mean, the behavior for, [4:56] obviously, if the allegations are true [4:57] against Representative Swalwell, [4:59] you know, there are legal ramifications. [5:02] For the Republican congressman, [5:08] the arrogance that he thought if, [5:13] you know, the text messages that he was sending, [5:16] the pressure he was allegedly putting on [5:20] the woman who ended up dying by suicide [5:22] and perhaps others, or at least another, [5:27] it's shocking that he thought that was acceptable. [5:30] I mean, in this day and age, you know, [5:31] asking somebody you are working with repeatedly [5:34] for naked photographs and pressuring them [5:37] to have sexual relations with you, [5:39] it's what planet is that person living on? [5:42] In any place, in any work environment, [5:45] I mean, I am actually an equal opportunity [5:48] representative in the military, [5:49] in the army with my unit. [5:50] And we discuss situations like this all the time. [5:53] And doing something like this to people [5:55] that are subordinate to you, [5:56] or just even that work with you in a work environment, [5:59] just makes it so uncomfortable. [6:01] And it's totally not accepted. [6:03] It's definitely not accepted in the military. [6:05] We fight it through and through. [6:07] It's not accepted in any workplace at all. [6:09] And especially a member of Congress [6:11] who has such power and ruling over things [6:14] that occur in this country, [6:16] to have this happen in Congress [6:17] is just completely unacceptable. [6:19] Sure, Michael. [6:20] Do you think GOP leaders should have asked [6:22] Gonzalez to take this step earlier? [6:24] I mean, obviously, there would have been, [6:26] you know, balance of power implications, I assume, [6:29] but he's been hanging on. [6:31] Sure, but who, Anderson, who cares [6:34] respectfully about balance of power? [6:35] I'm not saying this to you, [6:36] but I'm just saying broadly speaking, [6:38] who cares when you have a member amongst your ranks [6:42] who have clearly violated what I presume [6:44] should be an ethical or moral principle [6:46] of conservatives, but hell, any decent person? [6:48] Who cares if you lose a vote? [6:51] You should want people like that amongst your ranks. [6:54] And to me as a Christian, [6:56] do I put my political values [6:58] above my moral and spiritual ones? [7:01] Of course not. [7:02] And my expectation is that our leaders [7:04] on both sides should not do the same. [7:07] And what I'm worried about, Anderson, [7:09] is a month from now, two months from now, [7:11] we will have moved on. [7:12] We'll be on to the next story. [7:14] But what about the young staff women [7:17] who have to carry this shame, [7:19] this predatory behavior with them [7:21] for the rest of their lives [7:22] that they will never get over? [7:23] They'll never get their justice. [7:26] They'll never get their due day in court [7:29] because we've buried it. [7:30] We've moved on. [7:31] And that's something that Congress [7:32] continues to perpetuate. [7:34] And to me, I think we have to keep focused on this [7:37] to make sure that it doesn't continue. [7:39] Because these guys going away doesn't stop this. [7:43] It merely says, well, we'll just, [7:46] we'll pay attention to them. [7:47] We won't make sure, [7:48] we'll make sure this never happens again. [7:50] But you're still gonna keep paying out. [7:52] You won't disclose all of the other members [7:54] who've done similar things. [7:55] Why not? [7:56] Why not let us know who all of them were and currently are? [7:59] Maybe some of them may still even be there. [8:01] And we have no clue [8:03] because we have two individuals [8:04] that both parties are somewhat sacrificing. [8:06] That to me, again, is unacceptable. [8:08] Of course, you're running for Congress as a Democrat. [8:12] I mean, when you look at Congress, [8:14] you sure you want to be there? [8:16] I mean, there's a lot of you. [8:18] I mean, how old are you? [8:19] I'm 36. [8:20] And I get that question all the time. [8:22] You're a pilot, you know, [8:23] you're doing a lot of stuff. [8:24] Is this, what is it that makes you want to? [8:27] I just, I want to make a change. [8:30] And this is one of those changes [8:31] that we definitely need to make. [8:32] We need to hold people accountable. [8:35] We need to make sure that Congress is transparent. [8:37] We need to make sure that we have open investigations [8:39] of things like this. [8:40] If this is going on, [8:41] this is something that I will fight for every single day. [8:44] I appreciate both of you being with us, Chris Gallant. [8:46] Thanks very much for Michael Singleton as well.