Scoop: Gallego hires Andrew Bates for crisis comms around Swalwell
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Sen. Ruben Gallego on May 11. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Senator Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) has hired former Biden deputy press secretary Andrew Bates to focus on crisis communications, including any dealings with the Ethics Committee or fallout from Gallego's friendship with former Rep. Eric Swalwell, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: Gallego has publicly acknowledged that he was close friends with Swalwell, who resigned from Congress on April 14 after being accused by four women of sexual assault, harassment and rape, all of which Swalwell denies.
- Gallego proactively met in person with Senate Ethics Committee staff in late April, despite not having received formal notice of an Ethics Committee investigation, Axios previously reported.
- The senator wanted to bring Bates on to focus specifically on crisis communications, a source told Axios. But the hire has caused a rift among those in his political orbit, with some wondering how Bates will fit into Gallego's current communications team, the source added.
- Bates currently serves as a managing director at Orchestra, a public relations and communications firm.
"Senator Gallego has been clear that he plans to help Democrats take the majority in 2026 and is weighing all options for his political future. He has brought on Andrew to help navigate those processes," a Gallego spokesperson told Axios in a statement.
- Gallego's team told Axios that the senator has consulted with a team of advisers since his 2024 Senate win, including Rebecca Katz, Chuck Rocha, and Aisle 518.
- But a source familiar with the situation described frustration among some advisers who feel sidelined by Bates' arrival, including figures who were already involved in managing aspects of the Swalwell fallout.
Catch up quick: Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) publicly accused Gallego of sexual misconduct in April based on another woman's account, allegations Gallego denies.
- Luna said at the time that Senate Majority Leader John Thune's (R-S.D.) office told her the allegations are being investigated by the Ethics Committee. Thune's office referred Axios' questions to the Ethics panel.
Gallego has denied any personal wrongdoing and said he had no knowledge of any wrongdoing on Swalwell's part, only acknowledging that he had heard rumors about Swalwell being "flirty" over the years of their friendship.
- In a press gaggle in April, Gallego told reporters that he never heard of or witnessed any conduct by Swalwell that constituted sexual harassment or assault and said that Swalwell lied to and "manipulated" him over the course of their friendship.
- "I could see early on that this was no longer about Eric Swalwell," Gallego told Semafor in April. "It was about targeting me. When you have Chris LaCivita tweeting it, and then Karoline Leavitt talking about me from the White House podium, that's when I came to that realization."
Between the lines: Gallego has begun taking steps consistent with a 2028 White House run. He told NBC News in April that he's "looking" at a presidential bid.
- Gallego is headed to South Carolina next week for the Democratic Party's "On the Road" series on Juneteenth, Politico reported Tuesday.
- A potential ethics probe and continued scrutiny of his ties to Swalwell could complicate those ambitions.
Zoom out: Bates — one of President Biden's most aggressive defenders when he was president — notably criticized the timing of former first lady Jill Biden's new memoir, which revisits Biden's decision to leave the 2024 race.
- "I don't see why that painful conversation for the party needed to be publicly reopened right now," Bates told the New York Post late last month.
- Jill Biden hit back, telling a crowd on her book tour that Bates should "say it to my face."
