A California woman accused former Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) of drugging, raping and choking her in 2018 — adding to the growing list of women who have accused the politician of sexual assault and misconduct.

Attorney Lisa Bloom, along with the woman, Lonna Drewes, hosted a press conference on Tuesday in which Drewes detailed her allegations. Drewes told reporters that she met Swalwell on three occasions because he offered to use his connections in Silicon Valley to support her fashion software company. She said the first two times she met him were at public events.

On the third occasion, Drewes said they were supposed to go to a political event, but Swalwell said he needed to first pick up paperwork from his hotel room. She believes Swalwell drugged her because when she arrived at his hotel room after having just one glass of wine, she was “already incapacitated” and couldn’t move her arms or body.

“He raped me and he choked me. And while he was choking me, I lost consciousness, and I thought I died,” Drewes said, looking visibly shaken. “I did not consent to any sexual activity.”

An attorney for Swalwell did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment on this most recent allegation. Previously, Swalwell apologized for his past “mistakes in judgement” but denied all allegations of sexual assault and misconduct as “flat false” in a video posted to social media.

Bloom described Swalwell’s statements as a “slap in the face to the victims,” telling reporters that she and Drewes planned to file a police report with the Los Angeles County sheriff’s office directly after the press conference. They hope the office will pursue criminal charges against Swalwell and said they will cooperate with Manhattan’s district attorney’s office, which recently announced it opened an investigation into Swalwell for similar allegations.

Drewes said she didn’t get a rape kit but, at the time, told people close to her about the alleged rape.

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

“I have never doubted what happened,” Drewes added. “I stand with the other women who have come forward, and I will be making a report to law enforcement shortly with my attorneys.”

Bloom said that at least three other women have reached out to her about Swalwell, and she encouraged others to come forward.

“Lonna deserves what all women deserve: autonomy over her own body,” Bloom said. “Every minute of every hour of every day of her life, her body is hers to control. No man, no matter his position of power or station in life, ever has the right to make that decision for her.”

Swalwell dropped out of the California governor’s race and resigned from Congress following at least four other allegations of sexual assault and several more of sexual misconduct.

Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.

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