LOS ANGELES -- Another woman came forward Tuesday to describe rape allegations against Rep. Eric Swalwell, who said Monday that he would resign from Congress amid a torrent of sexual assault accusations.
Lonna Drewes said at a news conference called by her attorneys that she had contact with Swalwell on three different occasions in 2018 while she was working as a model in Beverly Hills.
On the third time she met him, she said, she believed he drugged her drink. She said they were supposed to go to a political event and they went to paperwork from his hotel room. She said she found herself incapacitated after drinking only one glass of wine.
"He raped me and he choked me and while he was choking me I lost consciousness and I thought I died," she said. "I did not consent to any sexual activity."
She said she didn't undergo a rape test, but disclosed the assault to people close to her and wrote about it in her calendar. She did not have contact with Swalwell again, her attorney said.
Swalwell's attorney Elias Dabaie did not immediately respond to a call or email requesting comment.
She said she had no interest in him romantically, and she was in a relationship at the time. He had a pregnant wife, she noted. She said he offered her connections that she believed could help her grow her fashion software company.
The alleged rape had a severe impact on her mental health, causing her to self-medicate, she said. She said she also went to therapy sessions at sexual assault center.
"I did not want to live anymore," she said. "I cried all the time for years."
At a press conference Monday announcing the allegations, attorneys presented a photo of her and Swalwell at the opening of a restaurant called Avra.
She said she'd been considering a political career at the time. After the incident, she said, made her feel like she had no choice but to remain silent.
"My delay in taking action against Eric was driven by fear not doubt," she said. "I have never doubted what happened."
She said she will soon be making a report to law enforcement.
Arick Fudali, one of the attorneys representing Drewes, said he hoped his client's account encouraged other women to come forward.
"This is not about Democrat versus Republican," said Fudali. "This is about accountability versus silence."
"Lonna deserves what all women deserve -- autonomy over her own body," said attorney Lisa Bloom. "Immediately we will be filing a police report."
Bloom said they would be providing text messages, journal entries and photographs to the police and wanted to assist with the investigation by the Manhattan district attorney, who has opened a case into allegations against Swalwell. She said three other women have reached out to her.
She called Swallwell's recent statements about the accusations against him "blather and spin" and a "slap in the face" to victims.
"Stop it," she said."Own your behavior."
A woman told CNN that after messaging with Eric Swalwell about her interest in Democratic politics last year, she met him for drinks and tried to deflect his advances without jeopardizing potential job opportunities. She said she began to feel "really fuzzy" and intoxicated and later found herself in his hotel room with no memory of how she got there.
Another woman, a former staff member who accused Swalwell of rape, told CNN she met him for drinks in 2019, blacked out and awoke naked in his hotel bed and could tell she had had intercourse. She said that in a separate encounter years later, he forced himself on her while she was too intoxicated to consent despite her protests.