Trump’s Department of Justice has opened a probe into East Bay Congressman and Trump enemy Eric Swalwell for mortgage fraud, though several members of Trump’s cabinet have engaged in the same mortgage practices as Swalwell.

News broke Thursday afternoon that East Bay congressional representative Eric Swalwell was likely to run for California governor in the upcoming 2026 race when Gavin Newsom is termed out of office. Insiders close to Swalwell said, in the words of MSNBC, that Swalwell had “all but decided he is running for governor” and that Swalwell’s announcement could come “as early as next week.” This indicates that Swalwell is not terribly worried about a potential Trump prosecution against him, one that he almost certainly knew in advance was coming.

Because three hours before that MSNBC story broke, the news also broke that the Trump Justice Department was accusing Swalwell of mortgage fraud, and may open a criminal probe into him, as KTVU reported. This is likely an extension of Trump’s clearly stated desire to prosecute his political enemies, with mortgage fraud allegations being one of the preferred weapons of choice.

NBC News points out that Trump is also pursuing mortgage fraud prosecutions of California Senator Adam Schiff, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. In Swalwell's case, this is not yet a formal prosecution, but instead a letter from Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Bill Pulte to US Attorney General Pam Bondi suggesting that a criminal probe may be in order over Swalwell’s claiming of multiple primary addresses on mortgage applications.

That’s funny, because a September investigation by ProPublica found that three sitting Trump cabinet members also claimed multiple primary addresses on their mortgage applications. And a day after that broke, a Reuters investigation found that Pulte — the very man who referred Swalwell for criminal investigation — has his own father and stepmother listing multiple primary addresses on their previous mortgage applications.

Swalwell is hardly shying away from the fight. "As the most vocal critic of Donald Trump over the last decade and as the only person who still has a surviving lawsuit against him, the only thing I am surprised about is that it took him this long to come after me," Swalwell said in an online statement to NBC News.

(He refers to a 2022 civil suit he filed against Donald Trump that accuses Trump of inciting mob violence on January 6.)

Again, Swalwell surely saw this coming. He said in a September CNN interview that “I fully expect it. Kash Patel wrote a book where he identified 60 individuals who are his enemies. He called them 'government gangsters.' He put me at the very top, alongside Adam Schiff, as the two worst. And so Adam Schiff is under investigation now. So I'm ready for it. I expect it. But I'm not going to flinch.”

And it also appears that Swalwell is still full steam ahead on his run for California governor. Because if Trump tries to prosecute Swalwell sometime before the 2026 election and Swalwell beats the charges, that is probably better than any advertising his campaign could ever buy.

Related: January 6th Lawsuit Brought Against Trump By Eric Swalwell Moves Forward [SFist]

Image: WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 25: U.S. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) speaks at a press conference on committee assignments for the 118th U.S. Congress, at the U.S. Capitol Building on January 25, 2023 in Washington, DC. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) recently rejected the reappointments of Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) to the House Intelligence Committee and has threatened to stop Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) from serving on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)