Eric Swalwell's billionaire benefactor just got hauled out of his West Hollywood mansion in handcuffs.
Now the man who bankrolled California Democrats for decades is facing a felony charge that could put him behind bars for four years.
What he allegedly did is the kind of thing that ends careers – and you won't believe who's still defending him.
Stephen Cloobeck Arrested on Witness Tampering Charge Weeks After Swalwell Scandal
Just weeks ago, Cloobeck was the toast of California Democratic politics.
He poured more than $1 million into Eric Swalwell's California governor's campaign.
He threw open the doors of his $26 million Beverly Hills mansion to a congressman now accused by multiple women of sexual assault.
Then Swalwell's world collapsed.
Four women accused the congressman of sexual misconduct. A former staffer said he sexually assaulted her in a New York hotel room. A second woman said he drugged and raped her in West Hollywood in 2018. The Manhattan District Attorney opened an investigation. The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation. Swalwell's own Democratic colleagues demanded he resign – and he did, on April 13.
Cloobeck threw him out of the mansion and called reporters to say so.
"You busted the trust," he told Swalwell directly. "I'm shocked, I'm disturbed – and get the f— out of here."
He demanded his $1 million back.
He renounced the Democrat Party entirely and declared himself a libertarian Republican.
Five weeks later, that same billionaire is in handcuffs.
Cloobeck Fiancee Adva Lavie Faces Six Felony Charges as Trial Looms
Deputies arrested Cloobeck after he turned himself in on a warrant Tuesday morning.
He posted $300,000 bond and walked out at 1:17 p.m.
If convicted of the felony witness-tampering charge, he faces up to four years in prison.
His spokesman told reporters the charges are "false" and that Cloobeck looks forward to his day in court.
What is clear is this.
This is a man already enmeshed in one of the most chaotic legal webs in California right now.
His fiancée – 28-year-old former Penthouse Pet Adva Lavie – is currently wearing an ankle monitor and facing six felony charges of her own.
Prosecutors say Lavie spent two years using dating apps to target wealthy older men across Los Angeles County – gaining their trust, gaining access to their homes, and walking out with their cash, gold, and designer goods.
She pleaded not guilty. Her trial begins later this month.
Cloobeck says the marriage is still on – the date now "a secret," presumably because his fiancée cannot leave California, and his effort to get her ankle monitor removed so she could model in a bathing suit did not move the judge.
The lawyer defending Lavie? Same firm that represented Suge Knight in a murder trial.
What that day in court will look like – and whose testimony somebody tried to silence – remains officially unclear. Authorities haven't named the underlying case.
But Cloobeck is a man with a fiancée facing felony trial, a former ally under rape investigation in two jurisdictions, and a $1 million demand outstanding against a disgraced ex-congressman. The question of who he might want to keep quiet practically answers itself.
Democrat Donor Network Protected Swalwell While Allegations Swirled for Years
This isn't just two men having bad luck at the same time.
This is what happens at the top of California's Democratic machine.
A congressman with a pattern of sending explicit photos to staffers and women he met online rises to national prominence, gets impeachment manager status, and runs for governor – while his biggest donor is engaged to a woman prosecutors say was running a two-year fraud operation targeting elderly men.
Everybody knew Swalwell. Everybody knew Cloobeck. Nobody said a word.
Cloobeck himself asked a Vanity Fair reporter whether Swalwell's conduct was "a big known secret in DC."
The answer, based on everything that's come out, is almost certainly yes.
California voters deserve to know who was in that mansion. Who was at those fundraisers. Who looked the other way for years while Swalwell collected campaign dollars and Cloobeck's guest list got stranger by the month.
The Democrats who spent years calling Trump supporters a threat to democracy built this world.
Now they're watching it get processed as evidence.
Sources:
- Ross O'Keefe, "Billionaire Dem donor Stephen Cloobeck is arrested in LA weeks after turning back on Eric Swalwell," The California Post, May 13, 2026.
- "Influencer Accused of Using Dating Apps to Target Victims Held to Answer on Six Felony Charges," Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, March 24, 2026.
- "Billionaire Stephen Cloobeck makes shock decision on wedding to 'thieving' Penthouse Pet," New York Post, April 2026.
