Lonna Drewes reacts during a press conference alleging U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) sexually assaulted her alongside a photo of Drewes with Swalwell (R) on April 14, 2026 in Beverly Hills, California.
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A new accuser of Rep. Eric Swalwell on Tuesday tearfully said she believed the fallen Democratic lawmaker from California had drugged her before choking and raping her in a hotel room in that state in 2018.
The woman, Lonna Drewes, spoke at a press conference in Los Angeles, where her high-powered attorney, Lisa Bloom, said she would be filing a police report detailing her allegations against Swalwell, a 2020 presidential contender who has been accused of sexual misconduct by several other women.
“He invited me to two public events. I knew he was married at the time and that his wife was pregnant,” Drewes told reporters. “He was my friend. On the third occasion, I believe he drugged my drink. I only had one glass of wine.”
“We were supposed to go to a political event, and he [Swalwell] said he needed to get paperwork from his hotel room,” Drewes said.
“When I arrived at his hotel room, I was already incapacitated, and I couldn’t move my arms or my body,” Drewes said of the incident in West Hollywood.
“He raped me.”
And he choked me, and while he was choking me, I lost consciousness, and I thought I died,” Drewes said. “I did not consent to any sexual activity.”
The press conference came several hours before Swalwell’s resignation from Congress, which he had announced on Monday, became effective.
Swalwell, 45, is already under criminal investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in New York City in connection with another alleged assault there.
Swalwell, in recent public statements, has denied any criminal wrongdoing, even after copping to unspecified “mistakes” he said he had made.
But the congressman, who has three children with his wife, on Sunday suspended his campaign for California governor, and a day later said he would give up his seat in the House of Representatives.
A picture showing Lonna Drewes (L) and former US Representative Eric Swalwell, Democrat of California, is shown during a press conference where she described her claims about sexual misconduct by Swalwell in Beverly Hills, California, on April 14, 2026.
Patrick T. Fallon | Afp | Getty Images
Bloom said, “We will not rest until we get justice for Lonna.”
“I want to say something now directly to Mr. Swalwell: Your recent statement — that you are just not perfect, you are not a saint — is just blather and spin. Stop it,” Bloom said.
“Your statement that this is all just a matter between you and your wife is laughable, if not for the fact that it is a slap in the face to the victims,” the attorney said.
In his resignation statement on Monday, Swalwell had said, “I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past. I will fight the serious, false allegation made against me.
“However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make,” Swalwell said.
