Eric Swalwell, a Democratic congressman, denied the accounts published by CNN and The San Francisco Chronicle. Nancy Pelosi was among those who said he should withdraw from the California governor’s race.

The Defense Department wants to keep in place a policy requiring escorts for journalists in the building while it appeals a court decision that tossed out broader restrictions on the media.

The mayor has embraced the decades-old concept of “sewer socialism,” hoping to improve New Yorkers’ lives by focusing on public services.