LA prosecutors review Swalwell case as ex-congressman is photographed leaving DC home

Left · 1The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office sex crimes unit is weighing whether to bring charges in a case involving former Rep. Eric Swalwell, a spokesperson told NBC News on Thursday. 1 Mixed · 2According to that spokesperson, the county sheriff's victims' unit investigated the case and forwarded it to prosecutors on Sept. 21; the New York Post reported that the office has yet to say whether or when charges will be filed. 1 2 Mixed · 2The case involves Lonna Drewes, a former model and fashion software company owner, who said at an April news conference that Swalwell drugged, sexually assaulted and choked her; the Post says the alleged assault happened in 2018 at a West Hollywood hotel. 1 2

Mixed · 2Swalwell, a Democrat, resigned from Congress in April and dropped out of the California governor's race after multiple sexual assault and misconduct allegations, which Swalwell denies. 1 2 Left · 1Swalwell's attorney, Sara Azari, said the referral is "a standard procedural step. It is not a charging decision. It is not a finding of wrongdoing," and that Swalwell is "innocent" and welcomes "a fair, independent review." 1 Right · 1Drewes's attorney Lisa Bloom told the New York Post's California Post she had "no comment" on the status of the case. 2

Right · 1The New York Post reported that Swalwell, 45, was filmed outside the family's $1.2 million Washington, D.C., home on Wednesday just before 9 p.m., wearing a cap and glasses and having trouble opening the door of a waiting black SUV, and declined to answer questions about the investigations. 2 Right · 1The Post, citing a source, said Swalwell no longer lives in Washington and was there on a brief business visit that fell on the 10th wedding anniversary with Brittany Watts; NBC News did not report the sighting. 2 Left · 1Federal investigators are also involved: NBC News reported that the FBI searched Swalwell's Washington home in August and seized an electronic device, and that agents with a search warrant stopped Swalwell at San Francisco airport that month and took an iPhone and a MacBook Pro. 1

Right · 1The Post adds that a Department of Justice investigation covers claims by multiple women, including a former staffer, and that investigators in Manhattan and Los Angeles have also opened inquiries. 2 Left · 1The allegations first surfaced in a San Francisco Chronicle article in which a former aide said Swalwell assaulted her twice, followed by a CNN report in which four women made misconduct allegations; Swalwell denied them in an April 10 video, saying they "did not happen." 1 Left · 1Democrat Aisha Wahab won a June special election for Swalwell's vacated seat and will face fellow Democrat Melissa Hernandez in November for a full term. 1