The notion that Swalwell was "flirty."

I'm seeing this inane word "flirty" in the context of Swalwell's downfall.

In the Politico article "'I fell for it:' Gallego gives emotional remarks following Swalwell sexual assault allegations/The Arizona Democratic senator said he regrets not seeing the signs that his colleague was “a predator'" (Politico).

“I let this man into my family … it hurts me that this man hurt a lot of people,” [Senator Ruben] Gallego, who chaired Swalwell’s 2020 presidential campaign, said in emotional remarks where he at times appeared on the verge of tears.

While Gallego conceded he had long heard rumblings that Swalwell was “flirty,” he insisted he was unaware of the severity of the charges being lodged against Swalwell by former staffers — including rape....

The NYT has "Gallego Dismissed Rumors of a ‘Flirty’ Swalwell, Highlighting a Culture of Silence/The admission by Senator Ruben Gallego that he had heard, but disbelieved, rumors about Eric Swalwell and women showed the attitude on Capitol Hill toward men accused of behaving badly." 

Senator Ruben Gallego, Democrat of Arizona, acknowledged on Tuesday that he had long heard rumors that Representative Eric Swalwell was “flirty” with women, but had allowed his longtime friendship with the California Democrat to cloud his judgment and never said or did anything about it.

I could give you many more links to reports of Gallego saying "flirty" to distance and absolve himself of knowledge of anything serious Swalwell may have done.

Nothing I found gave any substance to the characterization "flirty," which sounds like a quality you'd attribute to a school girl or a low-status woman.

When has a man ever been called "flirty"? Why would you call a powerful man flirty? I can only think that you're going out of your way to avoid saying "creepy" or "predatory" or one of those other words that are normally flung at men. Did Swalwell go up to women and say things like "Ooh, I like your dress" — things like that — and only things like that? If not, to say "flirty" is to continue to hide your part in covering for the sexual abuses of your colleagues.

"The last thing we need to do, again, is to make the same mistake when it comes to 'Defund the Police' rhetoric."

"That ended up not actually helping communicate what people wanted. People want a slimmed-down ICE that is truly focused on security."

Said Senator Ruben Gallego, Democrat of Arizona, quoted in "Abolish ICE? It’s a Slogan Some Democratic Critics of ICE Would Abolish/As Democrats grow more alarmed about the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration raids in American cities, some worry that calls to eliminate the agency will distract from efforts to rein it in" (NYT).

Third Way, a centrist Washington-based think tank, released a memo [saying]... “Every call to abolish ICE risks squandering one of the clearest opportunities in years to secure meaningful reform of immigration enforcement — while handing Republicans exactly the fight they want”.... 

“The radical ‘Abolish ICE’ crusade from far-left Democrats seemed like a relic of the past, but it’s the brand-new litmus test for Democrats who are barely hanging on and begging on their knees to get approval from their socialist base,” [said a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee].