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Washington — Another woman came forward with allegations against former Rep. Eric Swalwell on Tuesday, claiming the California Democrat drugged and raped her after he offered to help her career in 2018.
Swalwell announced Sunday that he would be ending his campaign for governor of California and said Monday he planned to resign from Congress. He officially resigned on Tuesday. Swalwell has called the prior allegations against him “false” and suggested they were politically motivated to hurt his gubernatorial bid.
The woman, who identified herself as Lonna Drewes at the news conference with her attorneys in Beverly Hills, said Swalwell had invited her to a political event but they ended up at his hotel room because he said he needed to get paperwork.
“I believe he drugged my drink. I only had one glass of wine,” Drewes said. “When I arrived at his hotel room, I was already incapacitated, and I couldn’t move my arms or my body.”
“He raped me and he choked me,” she said. “And while he was choking me, I lost consciousness and I thought I died.”
Drewes said she did not get a rape kit but disclosed the alleged assault to the people closest to her and recorded the events in her handwritten calendar. She said she also talked about the alleged rape during her therapy sessions at a sexual assault center in Connecticut. She said the delay in taking action was “driven by fear” of his political power and background as an attorney.
“It had a profound impact on my mental health,” she said. “I self-medicated in an unhealthy way.”
Drewes said she had met Swalwell twice before the third encounter in which the alleged rape occurred and he had offered her connections to help with her software company.
“He was my friend,” she said.
Drewes’ attorney, Lisa Bloom, said they planned to immediately file a police report with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Drewes suggested she came forward now to “stand with the other women who have come forward.”
Later Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement that its Special Victims Bureau was investigating a case involving a female adult who reported being sexually assaulted by Swalwell in July 2018 at a business in West Hollywood. Once an investigation is completed, the sheriff’s department said it would present the case to the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office for filing consideration.
In a statement Tuesday, Swalwell’s attorney said the former congressman “categorically and unequivocally denies each and every allegation of sexual misconduct and assault that has been leveled against him.”
“These accusations are false, fabricated, and deeply offensive —a calculated and transparent political hit job designed to destroy the reputation of a man who has spent twenty years in public service,” his attorney Sara Azari said in a statement. She called the allegations a “ruthless and shameless attempt to smear” Swalwell.
Several women have come forward in recent days after the San Francisco Chronicle published an account from a former staffer who alleged the California Democrat sexually assaulted her twice when she was too intoxicated to consent. Two women who accused Swalwell of sexual misconduct, Annika Albrecht and Ally Sammarco, told CBS News that Swalwell allegedly sent them unsolicited explicit messages on Snapchat. A feature of the popular messaging app is that chats and photos automatically disappear soon after they’re sent.
Swalwell’s decisions regarding his political future came as he started shedding support from House Democratic leadership and key members of his party, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat. He faced an investigation by the House Ethics Committee and an effort to expel him from the lower chamber. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office also confirmed Sunday that it is investigating sexual assault allegations against Swalwell.
The accusations against Swalwell have reverberated across Capitol Hill. About an hour after the Democratic congressman announced he would step down, Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas said he would be stepping down. Gonzales was also at center of a push to expel him from the House after it was revealed he sent sexually explicit text messages to a staffer who later died by suicide. Gonzales admitted last month to the affair and ended his reelection campaign under pressure from House GOP leaders. He officially resigned Tuesday.
