A woman who said she met former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell socially said in a news conference Tuesday that the congressman raped her in 2018 and believes he drugged her drink when the two were planning to attend a political event.
Lonna Drewes is one of at least six women who have made allegations of sexual misconduct against Swalwell, who resigned from Congress on Tuesday, a day after the House Ethics Committee announced it was investigating the allegations. Swalwell suspended his campaign for California governor on Monday.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced it is launching an investigation into Drewes’ allegations against Swalwell.
Drewes, who said she was working as a model and living in Beverly Hills at the time and owned a fashion software company, said she and Swalwell had contact on “three separate occasions after meeting him socially” and she believed he was her “friend.” She said the 2018 incident in California was the third time Swalwell invited her to a public event, adding that Swalwell’s wife was pregnant at the time.