Ex-Rep. Eric Swalwall faces new sexual assault allegations

· UPI

April 14 (UPI) -- A day after former Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., announced his resignation from Congress while facing sexual assault and misconduct allegations, a woman came forward Tuesday to accuse him of another sexual assault in 2018.

Lonna Drewes, of Beverly Hills, Calif., said that Swalwell drugged, raped and choked her until she lost consciousness while they were in a California hotel room.

"I thought I died," she said at a news conference with her attorneys, NBC News reported.

Swalwell has not responded to this allegation, which comes after multiple allegations of sexual assault from other women, including a former staff member. In the past several days, he has dropped out of the California governor's race and resigned from the House of Representatives, in which he'd served since 2013.

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In resigning from Congress, Swalwell apologized for "mistakes in judgment" but said that he'd fight "the serious, false allegation made against me," Politico reported.

Drewes said the alleged attack came on her third meeting with Swalwell. Other meetings, she said, had been friendly, and he'd offered her resources for her software company.

She said that on their third meeting, Swalwell took her to his hotel room, allegedly to pick up some paperwork before a political event. She said that she believes he drugged her drink first and that she was "incapacitated" when they reached the room and could not move her arms or body.

Drewes said she did not see Swalwell after that and did not file a police report due to fear of his political power and law enforcement connections. Lisa Bloom, Drewes' attorney, said they would be filing a report now and cooperating with law enforcement.

"I stand with the other women who've come forward," Drewes said Tuesday, NBC News reported.

CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle initially reported the earlier allegations against Swalwell. The former staff member for Swalwell said that the former congressman sexually assaulted her twice, both when she was intoxicated.

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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., presents the family of Benjamin Ferencz with his Congressional Gold Medal during the Holocaust Memorial Museum's Days of Remembrance ceremony at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. The gold medal was presented posthumously to Ferencz, who served in the Army during World War II and prosecuted Nazi war criminals during the Nuremberg Trials. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo