A woman accusing Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) of rape spoke out to CNN in a harrowing interview in which she revealed what details she could remember through an intoxicated haze.

Rep. Swalwell — also a candidate for governor — has been accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct, allegations which he denied in a statement:

These allegations are false and come on the eve of an election against the frontrunner for governor. For nearly 20 years, I have served the public — as a prosecutor and a congressman and have always protected women. I will defend myself with the facts and where necessary bring legal action. My focus in the coming days is to be with my wife and children and defend our decades of service against these lies.”

On Thursday’s edition of CNN’s The Lead, anchor and investigative reporter Pamela Brown presented her interview with the staffer who says Swalwell raped her while she was intoxicated:

KING: New tonight, CNN with exclusive reporting about Congressman Eric Swalwell. The California Democrat has ascended in the governor’s race there, and he’s faced recent rumors on social media about sexual misconduct that he has denied.

CNN’s Pamela Brown and her team have spoken with four accusers, including a former staffer who went on camera to share her story. Pam, tell us what our investigative team have learned.

PAMELA BROWN: Well, John, we have spoken with four women who have various kinds of sexual misconduct claims against Congressman Swalwell, ranging from inappropriate messages and pictures to unwanted kissing and touching, and in one case, rape, from a woman we spoke to on camera in shadow to protect her identity due to fear of professional retaliation.

She’s a former Swalwell staffer and she says it began when she was 21 years old. There were two very serious sexual assault allegations she made, one in 2019 as a staffer, and the other from 2024 when she had left his office.

She also described inappropriate messages and nude images with the congressman using Snapchat with disappearing messages.

Now, after the first incident where she said she woke up in his hotel room as a staffer naked after a night of heavy drinking, she told us about what she says happened several years later in 2024 after she had left his office. I want to warn you, what you are about to hear is graphic and disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I decided to ask him to meet me for a drink. And I did this because I was so far removed from what had happened in 2019. I felt safe because I was established. I had a partner. I felt more secure that I could have a strictly professional relationship with this person.

After that bar closed, we went to another, I went to the bathroom, and I don’t remember anything after that.

BROWN: You don’t remember anything?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I remember the next day, I can see flashes of that evening of him on top of me, me pushing him off, him grabbing me. It was a lot more aggressive. It was aggressive.

BROWN: Did you say no?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I said no. I said I — in my flash that I can recall, I was pushing him off of me saying no.

BROWN: And what did he do?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He didn’t stop.

BROWN: He didn’t stop? And you woke up the next morning?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I woke up the next morning naked, alone in his hotel room. I, for a moment, didn’t even know I was in his hotel room. That’s how intoxicated I was. And I called my mom, the only person I could think that could help me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And we were able to corroborate that by speaking with friends and family. She confided in reviewing photos and screenshots of contemporaneous text messages, and we also reviewed a message from her medical provider the week after she received the pregnancy and STD test, calling her a, quote, survivor.

Now, the Swalwell campaign released a statement from Congressman Swalwell saying, quote, these allegations are false, and come on the eve of an election against the frontrunner for governor. For nearly 20 years, I have served the public as a prosecutor and a congressman, and have always protected women. I will defend myself with the facts and where necessary bring legal action. My focus in the coming days is to be with my wife and children and defend our decades of service against these lies.

Watch above via CNN’s The Lead.

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