Fifth woman accuses former US lawmaker Eric Swalwell of sexual misconduct

The Democratic representative from California has resigned his seat in Congress over multiple sexual misconduct allegations.Democratic Representative Eric Swalwell has resigned from the United States Congress, amid mounting allegations of sexual misconduct.On Tuesday, a fifth woman came forward to accuse Swalwell of unwanted sexual contact, saying the Democratic lawmaker drugged and raped her during an encounter in 2018.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Eric Swalwell exits California governor race after sex assault allegationslist 2 of 3Epstein files with claims against Trump released by US Justice Departmentlist 3 of 3US investigators begin search of Epstein’s former ranch in New Mexicoend of list“My delay in taking action against Eric was driven by fear, not doubt – fear of his political power,” Lonna Drewes said during a news conference in Los Angeles.Drewes’s lawyer, Lisa Bloom, said her firm would be filing a police report with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s office.Swalwell has denied allegations of wrongdoing. But on Monday, he announced he would resign from Congress, one day after suspending his gubernatorial campaign.Polls had shown the 45-year-old leading the race to replace Gavin Newsom as governor of California.But his campaign imploded last week after reports from the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN detailed allegations of sexual misconduct from several women.One woman, identified as a former staffer, told CNN that Swalwell raped her in a New York City hotel in 2024, an encounter that left her bleeding and bruised.Three other women told US news outlets that they had received inappropriate messages from Swalwell on the app Snapchat, which automatically deletes interactions.Lonna Drewes, followed by her lawyer Lisa Bloom, arrives at a news conference in Beverly Hills, California, on April 14 [Patrick T Fallon/AFP]The accusations quickly prompted backlash to Swalwell’s gubernatorial campaign. Supporters withdrew their endorsements, and a handful of bipartisan lawmakers said they would push for a vote to expel Swalwell from Congress.