Senate Judiciary refers Julie Swetnick and Michael Avenatti for criminal investigation (Updated)
Seek investigation of possible federal criminal offenses of conspiracy, false statements and obstruction of Congress
The Senate Judiciary Committee has referred Brett Kavanaugh accuser Julie Swetnick and her lawyer, Democrat presidential hopeful Michael Avenatti, for criminal investigation.
The Judiciary Committee press release reads, in part:
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley today referred Julie Swetnick and her attorney Michael Avenatti to the Justice Department for criminal investigation relating to a potential conspiracy to provide materially false statements to Congress and obstruct a congressional committee investigation, three separate crimes, in the course of considering Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States.
While the Committee was in the middle of its extensive investigation of the late-breaking sexual-assault allegations made by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford against Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Avenatti publicized his client’s allegations of drug- and alcohol-fueled gang rapes in the 1980s. The obvious, subsequent contradictions along with the suspicious timing of the allegations necessitate a criminal investigation by the Justice Department.
“When a well-meaning citizen comes forward with information relevant to the committee’s work, I take it seriously. It takes courage to come forward, especially with allegations of sexual misconduct or personal trauma. I’m grateful for those who find that courage,” Grassley said. “But in the heat of partisan moments, some do try to knowingly mislead the committee. That’s unfair to my colleagues, the nominees and others providing information who are seeking the truth. It stifles our ability to work on legitimate lines of inquiry. It also wastes time and resources for destructive reasons. Thankfully, the law prohibits such false statements to Congress and obstruction of congressional committee investigations. For the law to work, we can’t just brush aside potential violations. I don’t take lightly making a referral of this nature, but ignoring this behavior will just invite more of it in the future.”
Grassley referred Swetnick and Avenatti for investigation in a letter sent today to the Attorney General of the United States and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The letter notes potential violations of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1001 and 1505, which respectively define the federal criminal offenses of conspiracy, false statements and obstruction of Congress. The referral seeks further investigation only, and is not intended to be an allegation of a crime.
The referral methodically details the issues with Swetnick’s allegations as relayed by Avenatti, the immediate diversion of committee resources to investigate those allegations, the subsequent contradictions by both Swetnick and Avenatti, the lack of substantiating or corroborating evidence, and the overarching and serious credibility problems pervading the presentation of these allegations.
Swetnick made her allegations in a sworn statement to the committee on September 26. In an October 1 interview with NBC News, however, Swetnick specifically and explicitly back-tracked or contradicted key parts of her sworn statement on these and other allegations. In subsequent interviews, Avenatti likewise cast serious doubt on or contradicted the allegations while insisting that he had thoroughly vetted his client.
The full letter is here and embedded in full at the bottom of the post.
MORE TO FOLLOW
Avenatti is pretending that this is a good thing and that he’ll get to relitigate Swetnick’s accusations. That MIGHT be true if he is charged criminally, but in the meantime DOJ and FBI will be able to investigate Swetnick and Avenatti.
It is ironic that Senator Grassley now is interested in investigations. He didn’t care when it came to putting a man on the SCOTUS for life. We welcome the investigation as now we can finally get to the bottom of Judge Kavanaugh’s lies and conduct. Let the truth be known.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 25, 2018
Maybe if Grassley was actually a lawyer that knew something about the law, he would realize what he has done. He just opened up Pandora’s box as it relates to Justice Kavanaugh’s conduct. It is Christmas in October!
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 25, 2018
For those of you who don’t remember, Swetnick’s claims that Kavanaugh participated in arranging as many as 10 gang rape parties in high school completely fell apart during Swetnick’s interview with NBC News, Julie Swetnick’s rape train claims against Kavanaugh crash and burn in NBC Interview:
Julie Swetnick, Michael Avenatti’s client, has the most incredible of all the accusations against Brett Kavanaugh — that he participated in organizing and running rape train parties in which girls were given spiked drinks then gang raped.
Her original declaration is here.
Both Kavanaugh and Mark Judge, who Swetnick also implicated, denied the accusations:
- Kavanaugh: New accusations are “ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone” (Updates)
- Mark Judge denies gang rape party accusations as “bizarre” and “outlandish”
- REPORT: 60 Kavanaugh Classmates to Sign Letter Saying They Have No Memory of Parties Swetnick Referenced, or Swetnick
Previous attempts to corroborate any part of her story proved fruitless. Yet Avenatti has been taunting Senate Republicans that her story would be proven.
NBC News interviewed Swetnick, and her story collapses to such a degree that NBC cautioned viewers that her story was not corroborated and contradicted, in important details, her sworn affidavit submitted by Avenatti.
This sounds increasingly like a hoax. https://t.co/DOSICYaugQ
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) October 2, 2018
*UPDATE 10:25PM
From @tvkatesnow and @annaschecter As Chuck Grassley accuses Julie Swetnick of misleading Congress, new questions are being raised about Michael Avenatti's claims regarding Brett Kavanaugh. https://t.co/pU2WWcK94x
— NBC Investigations (@NBCInvestigates) October 25, 2018
Was this an intentional attempt to mislead our reporters? Evidence points that way… https://t.co/MOxE8WiGK4
— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) October 26, 2018
That evidence was there nineteen seconds after the accusations were leveled, long before your reporters decided to air them without examination.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) October 26, 2018
NBC had information about this discrepancy since Sept. 30, and we're only hearing about it all now. Kate Snow did a good job in her Oct. 1 interview with Swetnick of teasing out the discrepancies. But why is Avenatti's role only now being revealed? https://t.co/ukmy8VZrRC
— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) October 26, 2018
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Judiciary Committee Criminal Referral of Swetnick and Avenatti 10-25-2018 by Legal Insurrection on Scribd
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Comments
Insanity defense for her. But I am a lawyer defense for him.
Grassely does it just right.
The real criminals are Dianne Feinstein and Christine Blasey Ford, but he’s too much of a GOPe chicken to go after them.
Every time I sign a piece of paper in my capacity as a patent attorney, it operates as an assertion that I have investigated the matter, and all statements made in it are true as far as I can determine. Willful false and misleading statements carry substantial penalties for both me and my clients.
Is there a different standard for creepy porn lawyers?
There’s a different standard for Who’s than for Whom’s.
Well aparently as a creepy poem lawyer they don’t need standards.
The whole thing needs to be investigated. I do enjoy seeing CPL acting defiant while he is probably crapping his pants wondering why the DNC who helped set this up aren’t protecting him.
I’ll believe they’re going to do anything meaningful when Sessionzzzzzzzzzzz gets off his ass and actually indicts them.
avennati, the gift that keeps on giving… may he “reign” with nancy for along time…
Nibbling away at the fringes…. slowly eroding away buffer from Ford and Company.
It is Christine Blasey Ford and Dianne Feinstein that belong in jail for their conspiracy to lie.
They certainly deserve an investigation. I would love to know more about her FBI friend and what role she played in this.
Agreed, but I don’t see Republicans touching this with a ten-foot poll lest they upset the high percentage of women who see Ford as some sort of heroine. (Yeah, it disgusts me too, especially since I’m a woman.). Hopefully some fair-minded conservative journalist will do the necessary digging and discover the actual facts about Frau Ford and her compelling [sic] testimony. Unfortunately, I think that’s the best we can hope for with this sordid episode.
Now, all someone has to do is wake up Sessions
An investigation of possible federal criminal offenses of conspiracy, false statements and obstruction of Congress?
Git’er done!
As I recall, Grassley’s committee investigators investigated exhaustively, the other side just didn’t like the results and so treated it as a non-existent investigation. Somehow, they want the executive branch’s FBI to serve as a check on senatorial power and have an up or down veto of supreme court nominees. Constitutionally, that’s quite a mess.
If it ain’t, it’ll do ’til the mess gets here.
Wait, you mean Creepy Porn Lawyer and Crazy Eyes Sweatlick where lying? Noooo, say it ain’t so!
I recall reading on another comment string…. “Beware the wrath of a patient man.” I don’t recall the attribution, but this move by Grassley might serve as a reasonable example. At least we can hope.
It was me, and it was in this thread:
https://legalinsurrection.com/2018/09/live-kavanaugh-testifies-in-front-of-senate-judiciary-committee/comment-page-2/#comment-884966
It’s a partial quote from John Dryden’s poem in “Absalom and Achitophel:
Must I at length the Sword of Justice draw?
Oh curst Effects of necessary Law!
How ill my Fear they by my Mercy scan,
Beware the Fury of a Patient Man.
I love this.
“Maybe if Grassley was actually a lawyer that knew something about the law, he would realize what he has done. He just opened up Pandora’s box as it relates to Justice Kavanaugh’s conduct. It is Christmas in October!”
Creepy Porn Lawyer doesn’t know that Grassley doesn’t need to be a lawyer but simply needs to be advised by lawyers. And Grassley is being advised by far better than he could ever hope to be as evidenced by his track record. I guess he imagines that since he just pulls things out of his @$$ everyone else does, too.
Looking forward to Avenatti’s perp walk.
How could BK run “many” “rape parties”?
After the first one – “Gee, guys, that went really well! Let’s do it again!”
At the next – “Where are all the girls?”
Remember, word got around in the school and nearby schools about unusual events and wild parties. A series of such parties would simply have been impossible.
If it’s true then WHY did a girl go to “several” of the parties. To ugly to get laid any other way?
What an idiot.
Imagine the fun the Judiciary Committee staff lawyers had when writing this for Chuck Grassley. Revenge for all those late nights and weekends they had to spend tracking down nonexistent substantiation for the claims by Creepy Porn Lawyer™ and his deranged client. Those chickens have come home to roost. Let’s hope Sessions’ lawyers are willing to help them out.
*pole*, although “poll” sort of works, too, because that’s how everything political is measured these days.
Seriously, can anyone name someone who was punished because of a Senate investigation or a Senate criminal referral? This is a bad joke on all of us.
This is a waste of time and tax payer money.
“Seek investigation of possible federal criminal offenses of conspiracy, false statements and obstruction of Congress.”
I think some of these could be applied to Ford and her lawyers.