Eric Swalwell’s carefully crafted image as a righteous crusader against Donald Trump and conservative “threats to democracy” lies in ruins, thanks to Lonna Drewes’ explosive allegations on Monday.
At the time of the alleged assault several years ago, Drewes told reporters, she documented the event in her calendar, disclosed it to close friends, and later processed the trauma in therapy at a sexual assault center.
The aftermath — years of self-medication, suicidal thoughts, and constant crying — left her shattered.
Fear of Swalwell’s political power kept her silent for years, she said.
Swalwell issued a blanket denial on Tuesday, saying that he “unequivocally denies each and every allegation of sexual misconduct and assault that has been leveled against him.”
Drewes stood with attorney Lisa Bloom, who delivered a blistering rebuke of Swalwell’s spin. Bloom shredded his “I’m not perfect, not a saint” nonsense as “blather.” She also dismissed the “private matter between me and my wife” line as a slap in the face to victims, and mocked his “mistakes in judgment” as pathetic minimization.
“Stop it,” she demanded. “Own your behavior.”
Bloom announced an immediate police report to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office, complete with texts, journals, photos, and witnesses. Her firm also pledged full cooperation with the Manhattan DA and any other probes, while inviting more victims forward confidentially.
This is not politics, they insisted: It’s accountability.
The legal noose is tightening around Swalwell in ways that should terrify every elite Democrat. Drug-facilitated rape and choking fall squarely under California’s serious sex crime laws, with no statute of limitations.
And Lonna Drewes’ contemporaneous records likely provide prosecutors corroborating evidence.
If charges stick, Swalwell could be looking at serious prison time and lifetime sex offender status. The man who once positioned himself as a future governor, and a male feminist, could instead become California’s most infamous prisoner-predator.
Politically, the damage to Democrats is brutal, and self-inflicted.
Swalwell was a vocal impeachment manager and reliable cable-news attack dog who had positioned himself as California’s next governor.
His rapid fall exposes the rot at the heart of the Democratic Party, in which powerful bosses lecture the country on morality while allowing ambitious women to be treated, allegedly, as disposable perks of office.
Democrats, including leaders like Nancy Pelosi, spent years promoting Swalwell as a fresh face of resistance, only to watch him implode under accusations that mirror the very “toxic masculinity” they claim to despise.
The governor’s race, once a lock for Democrats, now looks vulnerable to the once-unlikely prospect of two Republicans qualifying for the general election and shutting out the Democrats’ crowded field.
The media’s hypocrisy has been especially grotesque. Outlets that spent weeks hyperventilating over flimsier claims against conservative figures adopted cautious restraint when one of their favorite Democrats was accused behind the scenes.
CNN’s Brian Stelter even touted the Swalwell story as a triumph of investigative journalism. In fact, for many years, the investigative journalists looked the other way.
California Post News: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, WhatsApp, LinkedInCalifornia Post Sports Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, XCalifornia Post Opinion California Post Newsletters: Sign up here!California Post App: Download here!Home delivery: Sign up here!Page Six Hollywood: Sign up here!
Their willful neglect paints the #metoo movement as a partisan weapon deployed ruthlessly against Republicans, while Democrats received kid-glove treatment.
Unaccountable power in Washington produces a sense of entitlement that, in turn, enables more abuses.
Swalwell’s brand, built on grandstanding against Trump while cozying up to questionable foreign influences, now lies exposed as hollow moral posturing.
The broader implications should alarm every Democratic strategist. When a high-profile figure like Swalwell, who weaponized every accusation against the right, faces credible claims of drugging and choking a woman seeking legitimate business ties, the party’s credibility on women’s issues collapses.
Abuse of power doesn’t disappear when the predator adopts the letter “D”; it simply reveals who was corrupt from the start.
Swalwell’s swift political execution proves the swamp protects its own — until the evidence and public pressure make protection impossible.
Richie Greenberg is a political commentator based in San Francisco.
