Lonna Drewes, a fifth woman to come forward with allegations against California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, detailed a graphic account of an alleged sexual assault as she spoke out against the lawmaker during a Tuesday press conference.
The misconduct allegations against Swalwell were first published by The San Francisco Chronicle and CNN last Friday, prompting him to dismiss them in a social media video as “absolutely false,” insisting the incidents alleged “never happened,” and pledging to “fight them with everything that I have.”
More women have provided details of their alleged encounters with Swalwell and prompted a firestorm. He has since announced he is abandoning his bid for the governor’s mansion and is resigning from Congress after the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office opened an investigation into the claims against him.
Represented by attorneys Lisa Bloom and Arick Fudali, Drewes alleged that the outgoing congressman drugged and raped her in 2018. Drewes stated that after meeting Swalwell for professional networking in West Hollywood, she became incapacitated following a single glass of wine.
She described a violent assault in a hotel room, telling reporters: “He raped me and he choked me. While he was choking me, I lost consciousness and I thought I died. I did not consent to any sexual activity.”
Bloom confirmed that her office was filing a formal police report with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, shifting the focus of the scandal toward a criminal investigation.
The new allegations follow Swalwell’s abrupt exit from public life on Monday, April 13, when he announced his resignation from Congress and withdrew from the California gubernatorial race.
For the women who initially went public with accusations against the Democrat, Drewes’ testimony represents the “receipts” they said were forthcoming.
The three women – Cheyenne Hunt, Annika Albrecht, and Ally Sammarco – gave an interview to CBS News’ Nancy Cordes, in which they were asked whether they consider the Democrat’s sudden downfall justice.
“No, it’s just the beginning,” Hunt answered Cordes in a preview of their exchange published before broadcast. “It’s just the very beginning, and I know personally that we’re not walking away from this fight.”
“For me justice won’t be until he can’t ever harm a woman ever again and he has faced the consequences for the women that he has harmed,” said Albrecht.
“I think, in regards to the governor’s race, he never should have run for governor to begin with knowing the kind of history and receipts that are out there,” Sammarco said.
“So that’s a non-starter and then, in terms of Congress, I think he absolutely should have resigned.
“I think we just prevented another 30 to 40 years, potentially, of him harming people if he were to stay in Congress so, in that sense, I think we have served justice for his future victims that won’t exist anymore.”
Sammarco also said she felt “vindicated” by Swalwell having to respond to their accusations.
“He was pushed into a corner, essentially, because they were planning to expel him… So I think he did that to save face a little,” she said of his resignation from the House of Representatives. “But I also felt very vindicated that he realized it was over for him.”
She and Albrecht denied any suggestion that they might have known each other before their shared ordeals were brought to light, rubbishing the idea that they might have come forward together as part of a coordinated plot to sabotage Swalwell’s gubernatorial chances.
“We didn’t know each other before,” Sammarco said. “I didn’t know any of the other women. I knew nothing about them. We got connected through this process, and I’m so glad we did.”
Albrecht explained that the process began when she reached out to Hunt, a friend and social media influencer, to ask her about posting a video of her allegations against Swalwell because, she said, she felt “physically sick and nauseous” about the prospect of him becoming California’s next governor.
“Eleven days is how long it took from when I reached out to her to make the video to when the dam broke and all the articles were published,” Albrecht said, calling them “the longest 11 days of our lives.”
She said they were “immediately slammed” by messages from other women making allegations against Swalwell, many of which appeared to follow a similar pattern to their own experiences.
“He thought he was untouchable,” Sammarco said of the outgoing congressman. “He acted with total impunity. He never thought that the consequences of his actions would follow him.”
“As governor, he would have had even more power and more authority. And he would have felt vindicated too, you know, that he could run for higher office.
“He ran for president [in 2019] and nothing came out about him. So I think that empowered him to continue doing what he was doing.”
Later in the same interview, she said of Swalwell: “He gave off this perception that he was a family man. That he was a fighter. That he was a defender of women. And that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“If these are the people that are out there championing women and, you know, protectors of women, and ‘We need to hold people accountable,’ and then behind closed doors they’re doing this, that is a huge discrepancy for anybody who’s working in politics.
Rainn offers support for those affected by rape and sexual abuse. You can call Rainn on 800-656-HOPE (4673)
