Lonna Drewes reacts throughout a press convention alleging U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) sexually assaulted her alongside a photograph of Drewes with Swalwell (R) on April 14, 2026 in Beverly Hills, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Photographs
A brand new accuser of Rep. Eric Swalwell on Tuesday tearfully mentioned she believed the fallen Democratic lawmaker from California had drugged her earlier than choking and raping her in a resort room in that state in 2018.
The girl, Lonna Drewes, spoke at a press convention in Los Angeles, the place her high-powered lawyer, Lisa Bloom, mentioned she could be submitting a police report detailing her allegations towards Swalwell, a 2020 presidential contender who has been accused of sexual misconduct by a number of different ladies.
“He invited me to 2 public occasions. I knew he was married on the time and that his spouse was pregnant,” Drewes informed reporters. “He was my pal. On the third event, I consider he drugged my drink. I solely had one glass of wine.”
“We had been presupposed to go to a political occasion, and he [Swalwell] mentioned he wanted to get paperwork from his resort room,” Drewes mentioned.
“Once I arrived at his resort room, I used to be already incapacitated, and I could not transfer my arms or my physique,” Drewes mentioned of the incident in West Hollywood.
“He raped me.”
And he choked me, and whereas he was choking me, I misplaced consciousness, and I assumed I died,” Drewes mentioned. “I didn’t consent to any sexual exercise.”
The press convention got here a number of hours earlier than Swalwell’s resignation from Congress, which he had introduced on Monday, turned efficient.
Swalwell, 45, is already below legal investigation by the Manhattan District Lawyer’s Workplace in New York Metropolis in reference to one other alleged assault there.
Swalwell, in current public statements, has denied any legal wrongdoing, even after copping to unspecified “errors” he mentioned he had made.
However the congressman, who has three youngsters together with his spouse, on Sunday suspended his marketing campaign for California governor, and a day later mentioned he would hand over his seat within the Home of Representatives.
An image exhibiting Lonna Drewes (L) and former US Consultant Eric Swalwell, Democrat of California, is proven throughout a press convention the place she described her claims about sexual misconduct by Swalwell in Beverly Hills, California, on April 14, 2026.
Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Photographs
Bloom mentioned, “We is not going to relaxation till we get justice for Lonna.”
“I need to say one thing now on to Mr. Swalwell: Your current assertion — that you’re simply not good, you aren’t a saint — is simply blather and spin. Cease it,” Bloom mentioned.
“Your assertion that that is all only a matter between you and your spouse is laughable, if not for the truth that it’s a slap within the face to the victims,” the lawyer mentioned.
In his resignation assertion on Monday, Swalwell had mentioned, “I’m deeply sorry to my household, employees, and constituents for errors in judgment I’ve made in my previous. I’ll struggle the intense, false allegation made towards me.
“Nonetheless, I need to take duty and possession for the errors I did make,” Swalwell mentioned.
