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 stated 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 lady, Lonna Drewes, spoke at a press convention in Los Angeles, the place her high-powered legal professional, Lisa Bloom, stated she could be submitting a police report detailing her allegations in opposition to Swalwell, a 2020 presidential contender who has been accused of sexual misconduct by a number of different girls.
“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 good friend. On the third event, I consider he drugged my drink. I solely had one glass of wine.”
“We had been speculated to go to a political occasion, and he [Swalwell] stated he wanted to get paperwork from his resort room,” Drewes stated.
“Once I arrived at his resort room, I used to be already incapacitated, and I could not transfer my arms or my physique,” Drewes stated of the incident in West Hollywood.
“He raped me.”
And he choked me, and whereas he was choking me, I misplaced consciousness, and I believed I died,” Drewes stated. “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 underneath 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 stated he had made.
However the congressman, who has three kids together with his spouse, on Sunday suspended his marketing campaign for California governor, and a day later stated he would surrender his seat within the Home of Representatives.
An image displaying 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 stated, “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 excellent, you aren’t a saint — is simply blather and spin. Cease it,” Bloom stated.
“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 legal professional stated.
In his resignation assertion on Monday, Swalwell had stated, “I’m deeply sorry to my household, employees, and constituents for errors in judgment I’ve made in my previous. I’ll battle the intense, false allegation made in opposition to me.
“Nevertheless, I need to take accountability and possession for the errors I did make,” Swalwell stated.