The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has officially opened an investigation into former California Rep. Eric Swalwell after a woman accused him of sexual assault in 2018.
The woman stepped forward on Tuesday, becoming Swalwell’s fifth accuser. It came on the same day the Democratic congressman officially resigned from Congress following a wave of sexual assault and misconduct allegations from several women.
Lonna Drewes alleged during a news conference on Tuesday that, in July 2018, Swalwell drugged her drink and raped her in a hotel room in West Hollywood. At the close of her statement, she said that she and her attorneys, Lisa Bloom and Arick Fudali, were filing a police report.
After Drewes made the public statement, Swalwell’s attorney, Sara Azari, posted a statement on X Tuesday, saying: “Congressman Eric Swalwell categorically and unequivocally denies each and every allegation of sexual misconduct and assault that has been leveled against him. These accusations are false, fabricated, and deeply offensive — a calculated and transparent political hit job designed to destroy the reputation of a man who has spent twenty years in public service.”
The sheriff’s department also released a statement to the media later on Tuesday, saying its Special Victims Bureau is in the very early stages of its investigation into the alleged 2018 incident.
“Investigators are in the process of gathering information, reviewing available evidence, and conducting follow up inquiries as part of a comprehensive investigative process,” officials said in a statement. “Once the investigation is completed the investigators will present the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for filing consideration.”
Swalwell, who suspended his bid for California governor on Sunday, announced his decision to resign on Monday, hours after the House Ethics Committee said it would launch an investigation into the allegations.
Bloom weighed in on Swalwell’s decision to step down, saying, “I do not, in my opinion, see that as an act of accountability at all. I see it as an effort to avoid the expulsion hearing that was coming, because once he steps down, the Ethics Committee no longer has jurisdiction to impose consequences on him.”
Bloom said Swalwell losing his job was not a “sufficient consequence for these types of allegations” and added, “We feel that the criminal investigations are the priority.”
The allegations
Drewes said during Tuesday’s news conference that, in 2018, she was working as a model in Beverly Hills, Calif., and owned a fashion software company. She also had an interest in local politics. After meeting Swalwell socially, she said she had contact with him on three occasions, the first two at public events.
“I knew he was married at the time and that his wife was pregnant. He was my friend,” Drewes said in a statement. “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 or my body. He raped me and he choked me. And while he was choking me, I lost consciousness. And I thought I died. I did not consent to any sexual activity.”
Drewes said that she did not undergo a rape kit at the time, but she disclosed the assault to the people closest to her, and it was documented in therapy sessions.
“It had a profound impact on my mental health,” she said. “I self-medicated in an unhealthy way. I did not want to live anymore.”
She said that, at the time, she was in a fully committed relationship and had never cheated in her life, adding: “I would never have engaged in a consensual sexual encounter with Eric Swalwell.”
Another woman who previously worked in Swalwell’s district office, according to reports from CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle, alleged that she had sexual encounters with the congressman, which included exchanging sexually explicit photos and a request for her to perform oral sex on him.
The ex-staffer also alleges that Swalwell sexually assaulted her twice when she was too intoxicated to consent. The first time she says it happened was in 2019, when Swalwell invited her and some friends to join him at a restaurant in Pleasanton, Calif. The woman says she became so intoxicated that she doesn’t remember how she ended up naked in Swalwell’s hotel bed.
The woman alleges a second incident with Swalwell occurred in 2024, after attending an awards ceremony in New York City. She only remembers flashes of what she said followed, including being in Swalwell’s hotel room, him on top of her, trying to push him off and telling him “no.” A week after the alleged assault, the woman said she got pregnancy and STD tests and told the physician’s assistant what happened.
CNN also reported on various sexual misconduct allegations from three additional women, including one who said she received unsolicited explicit messages and nude photos.
Swalwell’s response
Swalwell has repeatedly denied the women’s allegations. “These allegations of sexual assault are flat false,” the congressman posted Saturday in a video on Instagram. “They did not happen. They have never happened, and I will fight them with everything that I have. They also come on the eve of an election, where I have been the frontrunner candidate for governor in California.”
Before Swalwell exited the gubernatorial race on Sunday. An Emerson College/Inside California Politics poll from March indicated he was leading the open primary with 17% of the vote, and a polling average of gubernatorial surveys showed Swalwell gaining momentum.
Mounting pressure
Several high-profile Democrats withdrew their support for the congressman and publicly urged him to end his gubernatorial campaign after reports of the allegations surfaced last week. On April 10, House Democratic leaders, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Whip Katherine Clark and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, called for a “swift investigation” into the allegations and called on Swalwell to end his bid for governor.
“This is unacceptable of anyone — certainly not an elected official — and must be taken seriously,” the joint statement said. “All perpetrators of sexual assault and harassment must be held accountable.”
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also advised Swalwell to end his campaign, according to her spokesperson.
A growing number of Democrats had also called for Swalwell to resign from Congress, including Reps. Pramila Jayapal, Ro Khanna, Johnny Olszewski and Eugene Vindman. An April 12 open letter, signed by more than 50 of Swalwell’s ex-staffers, also called on him to resign, saying the allegations against their former boss are “serious, credible, and demand accountability.”
The House Ethics Committee announced on Monday that it was opening an investigation, which “will gather additional information regarding the allegations that Representative Eric Swalwell violated the Code of Official Conduct or any law, rule, regulation, or other applicable standard of conduct in the performance of his duties or the discharge of his responsibilities, with respect to allegations that he may have engaged in sexual misconduct, including towards an employee working under his supervision.”
The Manhattan district attorney’s office is also reportedly investigating the sexual assault allegations against Swalwell stemming from the allegation that he sexually assaulted his former staffer after the awards event in 2024.
