FBI Searches Beverly Hills Mansion Owned by Swalwell Donor Stephen Cloobeck, Sources Say

FBI agents searched a mansion on North Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills on Tuesday morning, Oct. 27, in connection with the federal investigation into former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif.

Sources told multiple outlets the home belongs to billionaire Stephen Cloobeck, a longtime Democratic donor who spent heavily backing Swalwell's run for governor.

The FBI has not named the property owner. "We are executing a search warrant. Court documents are sealed. No arrests are planned," FBI spokesperson Lourdes Arocho said. In a separate statement, the bureau said it "conducted an operation in the Los Angeles region related to an ongoing criminal investigation" and had no further comment.

A law enforcement source told the Daily Mail that Cloobeck was not home during the raid and that no one was arrested.

What the raid is about is unconfirmed

The warrant affidavit remains sealed. The FBI has not said what agents were seeking, and it has not said whether this search falls under the same inquiry as the August actions against Swalwell.

Anonymous sources have offered different explanations. Senior law enforcement officials told the New York Post the raid was linked to a sex worker. Two sources told the Daily Mail it was connected to allegations of possible sex trafficking. Neither claim has been confirmed by the FBI or any court filing, and no charges tied to the Beverly Hills search have been announced against anyone.

No source has said Cloobeck is a target of the investigation. He has not been charged in connection with the Swalwell probe, and the Daily Mail said he had been contacted for comment.

The Swalwell timeline

Swalwell resigned from Congress and dropped out of the California governor's race in April after reporting by CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle detailed allegations of sexual misconduct. At least five women have accused him of misconduct or assault. One is a former staffer who says he raped her while she was too intoxicated to consent. Another says he drugged and assaulted her in 2018.

Swalwell has denied wrongdoing. "I will fight the serious false allegations made against me," he said when he stepped aside. "However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make." He has not been charged with a crime.

The federal inquiry turned physical in August. Agents seized Swalwell's electronic devices at San Francisco International Airport and searched his Washington, D.C., home. A person familiar with the inquiry told the Los Angeles Times he was briefly held at the airport for the search and released the same day.

A warrant filed Aug. 13 and cited in court records sought his white iPhone and MacBook Pro. It was filed under Section 242 of Title 18, the federal law that makes it a crime for someone acting under government authority to willfully deprive a person of constitutional rights. The Daily Mail noted it is unclear how that statute applies to Swalwell's case.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department have opened separate criminal investigations, according to CNN.

Cloobeck's role and his own legal trouble

Cloobeck, 64, founded Diamond Resorts International and sold it to a private equity firm for $2.2 billion. He ran briefly for governor himself, never topped 1% in any poll, then endorsed Swalwell.

According to the New York Post, Cloobeck spent more than $1 million supporting Swalwell's candidacy, gave the maximum direct contribution of $39,200, and provided a private trip to France valued at about $31,000 in 2024. Swalwell stayed at the Beverly Hills home several times and held political events there, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Cloobeck cut ties in April. "I am no longer associated with a man that takes advantage of women," he said. Swalwell filmed a video denying the allegations at the house shortly before he was asked to leave.

Cloobeck faces his own case in Los Angeles County. He was arrested in May and charged with three felony counts of attempting to dissuade witnesses from testifying, plus a misdemeanor count over allegedly annoying phone calls. The charges stem from the case against his former fiancée, Adva Lavie, who is accused of stealing from wealthy men she met online. Cloobeck pleaded not guilty, and his attorney has denied the allegations. That case is unrelated to the Swalwell probe, according to Fox News.

A separate document release

The raid came a day after the White House's new Government Transparency Task Force released declassified FBI records about Swalwell's past relationship with Christine "Fang Fang" Fang, a suspected Chinese intelligence operative. In the records, Swalwell told agents he had "physical relations" with Fang on a handful of occasions, the last in March 2015.

No source has linked that release to Tuesday's search. The FBI has not said the two are connected. The Fang matter is a counterintelligence history, separate from the misconduct allegations driving the current criminal inquiry.

For now the public knows a judge approved a warrant, agents executed it at a billionaire donor's home, and the paperwork is under seal. Until the affidavit is unsealed, or someone is charged, the stated purpose rests on anonymous sourcing that conflicts from outlet to outlet.

Swalwell's lawyer has been approached for comment. Whether prosecutors in Washington, New York or Los Angeles bring charges, and whether the Beverly Hills warrant was part of the federal civil rights inquiry or a different line of investigation, remain open questions.