By Steve Gorman and Helen Coster
LOS ANGELES, April 14 (Reuters) – A second woman came forward to accuse Eric Swalwell of rape on Tuesday as the California Democrat and would-be governor resigned his seat in Congress, leaving him the subject of sexual assault investigations by law enforcement on both U.S. coasts.
Former Beverly Hills model and software entrepreneur Lonna Drewes is also the fifth woman to accuse Swalwell of sexual misconduct in recent days, deepening a scandal that prompted him to announce his resignation from the U.S. House of Representatives on Monday.
His resignation became effective on Tuesday afternoon, two days after he bowed out of the California governor’s race, in which he had been a leading candidate, as political support and endorsements rapidly eroded.
The 45-year-old politician, who is married with three children, “categorically and unequivocally denies each and every allegation of sexual misconduct and assault that has been leveled against him,” according to a statement issued by his attorney.
The statement described the allegations as politically motivated fabrications.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it was investigating a sexual assault allegation against Swalwell, stemming from a July 2018 incident at a West Hollywood place of business. It did not name the alleged victim or give further details.
But the statement came several hours after Drewes appeared at a news conference with her attorneys in Beverly Hills to accuse Swalwell of assaulting her in 2018.
‘ALREADY INCAPACITATED’
Drewes tearfully described an alleged encounter with Swalwell in which she said the lawmaker had spiked her glass of wine with an intoxicant that left her immobilized, then “he raped me.”
She said the assault occurred after she had accompanied Swalwell to his hotel room, ostensibly so he could retrieve some paperwork on their way to a political event together, and that she was “already incapacitated” by the time they reached his room.
“I couldn’t move my arms or my body,” she told reporters, adding that at one point during the assault, Swalwell choked her, and that she lost consciousness.
“I thought I had died,” Drewes said, adding, “I did not consent to any sexual activity.”
Drewes recounted that she and Swalwell had met socially some time before, that she had joined him at two previous public events at his invitation, and that he had “offered me connections to further my software company.”
“I knew he was married at the time, and that his wife was pregnant. He was my friend,” said Drewes, who recalled that she was then considering a run for City Council.
Drewes said her delay in going public “was driven by fear” of Swalwell’s “political power.”
FOUR PREVIOUS ACCUSERS
Swalwell ended his campaign on Sunday shortly after The San Francisco Chronicle and CNN reported that a woman who previously worked in his district office had accused him of two nonconsensual sexual encounters.
The woman told CNN that Swalwell raped her during a 2024 encounter, after she had left his staff, in a New York City hotel.
The former aide, whom the Chronicle and CNN did not name, was quoted as saying she had been too intoxicated on both occasions to consent. The Manhattan district attorney’s office on Saturday confirmed it was investigating the case.
CNN also reported that three other women leveled sexual misconduct allegations against Swalwell, including accusations that he had sent them explicit text messages and unsolicited photos of his genitals.
Swalwell, who was first elected to Congress in 2012 and was a frequent voice for his party on cable news programs, apologized on social media on Monday for “mistakes in judgments I’ve made in my past” and vowed to fight “the serious, false allegation” against him.
The statement by Swalwell’s lawyer, Sara Azari, described the allegations against her client as a “calculated and transparent political hit job.”
Swalwell’s departure leaves a crowded and fragmented Democratic field of low-polling contenders led by billionaire Tom Steyer and former Representative Katie Porter, all vying to succeed Gavin Newsom, who is nearing the end of his second four-year term and barred by term limits from running again.
No Republican has won a statewide election in California since 2006. But Swalwell’s departure is seen as possibly providing an unexpected opening for two Republican candidates, including Steve Hilton, endorsed by U.S. President Donald Trump, to advance to the general election in California’s non-partisan top-two primary race in June.
Newsom on Tuesday set a special election for August 18 to temporarily fill Swalwell’s House seat in the San Francisco Bay area.
(Reporting by Helen Coster in New York; Additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; editing by Donna Bryson, Alistair Bell, Shri Navaratnam and Edwina Gibbs)
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