New accuser says Rep. Eric Swalwell sexually assaulted her | CNN

A woman on Tuesday accused Rep. Eric Swalwell of sexually assaulting her, saying at a news conference that the congressman raped her in 2018 at a Los Angeles-area hotel. Lonna Drewes and her lawyer, Lisa Bloom, said they planned to report the assault to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Bloom declined to share detailed corroboration of Drewes’ claims, which CNN could not independently verify, saying that evidence would be shared with law enforcement authorities first. In a statement late on Tuesday, the sheriff’s department said its Special Victims Bureau is now investigating the allegations of a woman who said Swalwell sexually assaulted her in 2018 in West Hollywood. “The investigation remains in its preliminary stages and is ongoing,” the department said in the statement. Swalwell, who represented a San Francisco Bay Area congressional seat, was a leading Democratic candidate for California governor until CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle published stories Friday documenting claims of sexual misconduct against him. In the following days, Swalwell dropped out of the governor’s race and resigned his congressional seat. He has denied that he ever had noncon