An alleged victim of Eric Swalwell has come forward with horrific claims that he drugged and raped her in a hotel room in 2018.
Lonna Drewes, 50, said she thought she was friends with the congressman but claimed he spiked her drink before choking and sexually assaulting her in West Hollywood.
The model sobbed as she claimed he was masquerading as helping her fashion software company take off, but ended up destroying her life and left her “crying all the time.”
Drewes said she will escalate the claims to Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department today with evidence including texts, photographs and journal entries from the time.
It comes after four women last week leveled heinous claims against Swalwell, including one also alleging he raped her, which has set fire to his political career and seen him pull out of the California governor’s race and vow he will resign from Congress.
Sitting alongside high-powered attorney Lisa Bloom, Drewes said at a press conference in Beverly Hills: “In 2018, while I was living and working as a model in Beverly Hills, and I also owned a fashion software company, I had contact with Eric Swalwell on three separate occasions.
“After meeting, he offered me connections to further my software company, and I also had an interest in local politics.
“He invited me to two public events. I knew he was married at the time and that his wife was pregnant. 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 said he needed to get paperwork from his hotel room.
“When I arrived at his hotel room, I was already incapacitated, and I couldn’t move my arms over my body. He raped me, and he choked me. And while he was choking me, I lost consciousness. I thought I died.
“I did not consent to any sexual activity, although I did not undergo a rape kit at the time, I disclosed the assault to the people closest to me.
“I also recorded these events in my handwritten calendar. The assault and its impact were later documented during my therapy sessions at a sexual assault center in Connecticut.
“It had a profound impact on my mental health. I self-medicated in an unhealthy way. I did not want to live anymore.
Here’s the latest on the allegations against Rep. Eric Swalwell
“I cried all the time for years. At the time, I was in a dating relationship with a boyfriend I was fully committed to.
“I’ve never cheated in my life, and I would never have engaged in a consensual sexual encounter. That reality further underscores the non-consensual nature of what occurred.
“It was a politically unusual, intense time in Beverly Hills, and I was considering a run for city council, which placed me in proximity to political figures and events, and added to the pressure to remain composed and silent.
“Eric was aware I owned a software company, and he spoke repeatedly about his ability to make introductions, referencing his political representation and influence there.
“I was not interested in him romantically, but I was interested in the business relationship and professional connections he offered to provide.
“My delay in taking action against Eric was driven by fear, not doubt, fear of his political power, his background as an attorney, and his family law enforcement ties.
“I have never doubted what happened. I stand with the other women who have come forward, and I will be making a report to Law Enforcement shortly with my attorneys.”
Bloom took over the microphone after Drewes had aired her claims.
She said: “Lonna deserves what all women deserve, autonomy over her own body, every minute of every hour of every day of her life, her body is hers to control, and no man, no matter his position of power or station in life, ever has the right to make that decision for her.
“As her attorney, I have advised Lonna of her legal rights. Immediately, we will be filing a police report with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, which is the law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction over incidents that happen in West Hollywood.
“Lonna is committed to fully cooperating with law enforcement, and we will do everything possible to assist and support her in that we will be providing all of her evidence there, including text messages, journal entries, photograph and witness information, we will encourage the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office to fully and promptly investigate.
“We will also just cooperate with any other law enforcement agencies who are investigating Mr. Swalwell, for example, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which we understand, has already opened an investigation because Lonna and our law firm are here, not just for her, but for the other women to be helpful in any way that we can.
“We will not rest until we get justice for Lonna, I want to say something now directly to Mr. Swalwell, accused of your recent statement that you are just not perfect.
“You are not a saint. Is just blather and spin. Stop it. 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.
“Your statement yesterday that you just made quote, mistakes in judgment is defensive and minimizing. Stop it. Own your behavior.
“To any other women out there who want to talk to us, and I have received messages. We are here to talk to you, or and to anyone else who is a witness.”
Drewes claims came hours after another woman came forward to accuse Swalwell of luring her to a hotel room after sending her pervy messages on Snapchat.
Breaking her silence for the first time, Annika Albrecht told CBS News on Tuesday that the married congressmen started interacting with her soon after she met him on a class trip in college.
She claimed Swalwell, who initially started chatting to her under the guise of a professional mentorship, quickly asked for her Snapchat.
Eventually, she alleged, the messages crossed the line to “sexually inappropriate” before he hit her with the hotel invite.
“I keep thinking about how lucky I am that I didn’t go to that hotel,” Albrecht said, adding that she immediately stopped responding to him. “It was very clear what the connotation was.”
Another victim has accused Swalwell of sexually assaulting her in a hotel room in New York City in 2024.
The woman, who has not been publicly identified, claimed she was heavily intoxicated and woke up in her hotel room after a charity gala to find Swalwell assaulting her.
“I was pushing him off of me, saying no,” the woman, who no longer worked at Swalwell’s office at the time of the alleged assault, told CNN. “He didn’t stop.”
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has opened a sex assault probe into the sickening allegation. Albrecht said she had spoken to some of Swalwell’s accusers in recent days.
“It was terrifying to get on the phone with those women and hear their stories about how they were drinking with him and suddenly woke up in bed next to him with no recollection of how they got there,” she said.
Albrecht aired her alleged encounter with Swalwell after he abruptly resigned from Congress on Monday and dropped out of California’s gubernatorial race in the wake of the flurry of sexual assault and rape claims leveled against him.
Despite his fall from grace, Albrecht insisted that justice wouldn’t be served for her “until he can’t ever harm a woman ever again — and he has faced the consequences for the women that he has harmed.”
Swalwell’s decision to resign caps a swift political fall for the seven-term lawmaker.
A flurry of women have come forward in recent days to accuse him of various kinds of sexual misconduct stretching back years — including sending them unsolicited X-rated messages or nude photos on Snapchat.
Despite his resignation, The embattled pol vehemently denied the allegations in a video statement.
“I am deeply sorry to my family, staff, and constituents for mistakes in judgment I’ve made in my past,” he said in a statement on social media.
“I will fight the serious false allegation made against me. However, I must take responsibility and ownership for the mistakes I did make.”
