‘I Thought I Died’: 2 More Women Accuse Rep. Eric Swalwell of Sexual Misconduct, Rape

The downfall of Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) has been swift—if not apparently years overdue. After CNN published multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, including rape, from several women on Friday, Swalwell announced Sunday that he was suspending his campaign for California governor. By Monday, he said he would resign from the House, where he’s served since 2013.

“For me, justice won’t be until he can’t ever harm a woman ever again, and he has faced the consequences for the women that he has harmed,” Annika Albrecht—the fifth woman to come forward with accusations—told CBS Mornings on Tuesday. 

Albrecht, who accused Swalwell of sending her “sexually inappropriate” messages while she was in college, was not among the four accusers included in CNN’s bombshell report. On Tuesday afternoon, a sixth woman, Lonna Drewes, came forward, accusing Swalwell of drugging and raping her in 2018.

In CNN’s report, four women accused Swalwell of misconduct ranging from sending unsolicited dick pics on Snapchat to allegations of sexual assault and rape. One woman, a former staffer, said Swalwell raped her twice—once while she was a congressional intern and again after she’d stopped working for him—both times in hotel rooms while she was intoxicated. All the women say they connected with Swalwell while in their 20s and trying to advance their careers—which is also why they claim they’d been hesitant or scared to come forward before now. Those alleged incidents took place between 2019 and 2025. 

But Drewes’ account precedes those allegations. She said she met Swalwell in 2018 while living in Beverly Hills and considering a run for City Council.

“My delay in taking action against Eric was driven by fear, not doubt,” she said during a news conference in California on Tuesday. “Fear of his political power, his background as an attorney, and his family law enforcement ties.”

Drewes said she’d run into him several times, during which he offered to help her career. On their third meeting, she alleges he drugged her wine before taking her to a hotel room ahead of a political event he promised to take her to. She said she was “incapacitated” by the time they arrived. She added that she had a boyfriend at the time and knew Swalwell’s wife was pregnant, and said she would have never consented. 

“He raped me, and he choked me. And while he was choking me, I lost consciousness,” she continued. “I thought I died.” Her attorney, Lisa Bloom, said they would be filing a police report in Los Angeles.

Albrecht said she met Swalwell during a class trip in college, where students discussed politics with the lawmaker. Afterward, Swalwell allegedly asked the students to make a group chat to continue their conversation—soon after, he added Albrecht on Snapchat. “I was really surprised,” she told CBS.  

But Albrecht wanted to work in politics, and Swalwell, she says, started talking to her “under the guise of professional mentorship.” Eventually, his Snapchat messages took “a turn” and “started to get flirty” before becoming “sexually inappropriate.” When he allegedly invited her to meet him at a hotel, she chose not to respond.

“It was terrifying to get on the phone with [other] women and hear their stories about how they were drinking with him and suddenly woke up in bed next to him with no recollection of how they got there,” she told CBS, referring to allegations from two other women in CNN’s story. “I keep thinking about how lucky I am that didn’t go to that hotel.” 

Swalwell, who’s married with three young children, maintains that the allegations are false, though he apologized to his family on Monday for “mistakes in judgment.” On Tuesday, his lawyer reiterated that he “categorically and unequivocally denies each and every allegation of sexual misconduct and assault that has been leveled against him.”

“He was pushed into a corner, essentially, because they were planning to expel him… so I think he did that to save face a little,” Ally Sammarco, a political social media influencer whose accusations were first detailed by CNN, told CBS. “But I also felt very vindicated that he realized it was over for him.”

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