Another woman came forward on Tuesday to explain the allegations of rape against Representative Eric Swalwell, who said on Monday that he will resign from Congress amid a number of allegations of sexual harassment.
Lonna Drewes said at a news conference called by her attorneys that she contacted Swalwell (D-Dublin) three separate times in 2018 while she was modeling in Beverly Hills.
When he met him for the third time, he said he believed that he had given him his drink. He said they were supposed to go to a political event and went to pick up documents from his hotel. He said he felt faint after drinking one glass of wine.
“He raped me and strangled me and when he strangled me I fainted and thought I was dead,” she said. “I did not allow any sexual activity.”
Lonna Drewes, left, said she met with Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Dublin) three times in Beverly Hills in 2018. She accused him of sexually abusing her for the third time.
(Myung J Chun / Los Angeles Times)
He said he did not investigate the rape, but disclosed his assault to people close to him and wrote about it in his calendar. He had no further contact with Swalwell, his lawyer said.
Swalwell’s attorney Elias Dabaie did not immediately return a call or email seeking comment.
He said he was not romantically interested in her, he was dating at the time. He had a pregnant wife, he noted. He said he gave her connections that she believed could help her grow her fashion software company.
The alleged rape had a negative impact on her mental health, which enabled her to heal herself, she said. He said he also attended treatment sessions at a sexual abuse center.
He said: “I did not want to live anymore. “I have been crying for many years.”
At a press conference on Monday announcing the allegations, lawyers presented a photo of him and Swalwell at the opening of a restaurant called Avra.
He said he was thinking about doing a political career at the time. After the incident, he said it made him feel useless unless he kept quiet.
Lonna Drewes, walking behind her lawyer, Eric Fuddle, explained the 2018 meeting during a press conference in Beverly Hills.
(Myung J Chun/Los Angeles Times)
“My delay in taking action against Eric was undoubtedly due to fear,” she said. “I never doubted what happened.”
He said he would soon make a report to the law enforcement.
Arick Fudali, one of the lawyers representing Drewes, said he hopes his client’s account encourages other women to come forward.
“This is not about Democrat and Republican,” Fudali said. “This is about accountability versus silence.”
“Lona deserves what all women deserve – autonomy over her own body,” said attorney Lisa Bloom. “We will soon file a report with the police.”
Bloom said they will send text messages, journal entries and photos to police and want to assist in the investigation by the Manhattan district attorney, who filed the charges against Swalwell. He said three other women have come to him.
He called Swallwell’s recent statements about the charges against him “insulting and spinning” and a “slap in the face” to the victims.
“Stop,” he said. “Control your behavior.”
The woman told CNN that after texting Eric Swalwell about her interest in Democratic politics last year, she met him for drinks and tried to deflect his advances without jeopardizing her career. He said he began to feel “really confused” and drunk and later found himself in his hotel room with no memory of how he got there.
Another woman, a former employee who accused Swalwell of rape, told CNN she met him for drinks in 2019, blacked out and woke up naked in his hotel bed and learned he had sex. She said that sometimes when she saw him in later years, he forced himself to sleep with her when he was too drunk to consent despite her protests.
