A girl on Tuesday accused Rep. Eric Swalwell of sexually assaulting her, saying at a information convention that the congressman raped her in 2018 at a Los Angeles-area lodge.
Lonna Drewes and her lawyer, Lisa Bloom, stated they deliberate to report the assault to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Bloom declined to share detailed corroboration of Drewes’ claims, which NCS couldn’t independently confirm, saying that proof could be shared with regulation enforcement authorities first.
Swalwell, who represented a San Francisco Bay Area congressional seat, was a number one Democratic candidate for California governor till NCS and the San Francisco Chronicle revealed tales Friday documenting claims of sexual misconduct towards him.
In the next days, Swalwell dropped out of the governor’s race and resigned his congressional seat. He has denied that he ever had nonconsensual intercourse and stated he would battle these allegations, however apologized to his household and constituents for “mistakes in judgment.”
Sara Azari, a lawyer for Swalwell, stated in a press release Tuesday that “Swalwell categorically and unequivocally denies each and every allegation of sexual misconduct and assault that has been leveled against him.”
A former staffer for Swalwell beforehand informed NCS that the congressman raped her in 2024, and a number of other years earlier had nonconsensual sexual contact with her whereas she was closely intoxicated. Multiple different ladies have informed NCS that Swalwell despatched them unsolicited nude pictures of himself and different sexually specific messages.
Drewes, who was working as a mannequin and an entrepreneur on the time, stated she met Swalwell socially in 2018, and that he supplied to attach her with Silicon Valley traders who might help the style firm she owned. Drewes stated she was contemplating working for the Beverly Hills City Council, and the 2 additionally talked about politics.
On the third event they met, Drewes stated she believed that Swalwell “drugged my drink.”
She stated that she and Swalwell had been imagined to go to a political occasion collectively, however he stated he wanted to go to his lodge room to get paperwork.
“When I arrived at his hotel room, I was already incapacitated, and I couldn’t move my arms from my body,” she stated. “He raped me and he choked me, and while he was choking me I lost consciousness and I thought I died.”
Drewes stated that she didn’t report the alleged assault to police or obtain a rape package on the time it occurred, however added that “I disclosed the assault to the people closest to me.”
“My delay in taking action against Eric was driven by fear, not doubt,” she stated, including, “I have never doubted what happened.”
In an interview with NCS after her information convention, Drewes described her reminiscence of the alleged assault, however her legal professionals informed her to not share particulars together with the precise date of the incident or the names of individuals she informed about it as a result of they most well-liked to present that info to regulation enforcement first.
Drewes informed NCS she determined to talk out to help different ladies who had come ahead to accuse Swalwell of misconduct.
“My motivation was for other girls,” she stated. “For a long while I’ve wanted to say something. When I knew he was running for governor, I was like, ‘Oh god, this can’t happen.’”
NCS’s Curt Devine, Pamela Brown and Yahya Abou-Ghazala contributed to this report.