Megyn Kelly recently said that it's time for Michael Avenatti to 'put up or shut up' regarding the lurid and dramatic claims being advanced by one of his clients against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Based on that client's interview with NBC last night, it looks like it's time for the celebrity lawyer to do the latter -- though the chances of that are nil. He's running for president and vowing to expand and pack SCOTUS, no less.
In her first sit-down interview, Julie Swetnick -- the woman who tied Kavanaugh to a gang rape ring when he was in high school (and she was in college) -- hedged and backed away from a number of her outlandish accusations. NBC News, like the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, has been unable to verify anything about Swetnick's account. They ran her interview anyway, for some reason, noting up front that she's already changing her story. "There are things that she told us on camera that differ from her written statement last week:"
Swetnick cannot remember when she came forward with her claims, shifting the dates around (was it six weeks, or a "few" weeks?), and asserting that her goal was to reinforce Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's allegation against Kavanaugh. In her sworn statement, Swetnick attested that she was personally aware of Kavanaugh and Mark Judge spiking the punch at parties and funneling dangerous drinks to girls. This was part of the gang rape process, according to her. But in the NBC interview, she admits that she only remembers seeing the two boys near the punch, and that she never "specifically" saw either of them spike it. Oh. "I don't know what he [Kavanaugh] did," she continues, in perhaps the most honest sentence she's uttered on this entire matter.
As for the serial gang rape portion of her story, Swetnick says she actually "didn't know what was occurring" at the parties in question, but later surmised that there must have been other gang rapes happening after she herself was gang raped. Allegedly. Was Kavanaugh one of her rapists? Well, she can't say. But she's pretty sure he was at that party. Plus, she says, it would be "too coincidental" for him to have attended these rape parties (she figures they must have been rape parties, right?) without raping someone. She goes on to state that "if Brett Kavanaugh is one of the people that did this to me," he shouldn't be on the Supreme Court. Well yeah, but she won't say that he was. Indeed, she provides zero evidence that anyone did any such thing to her.
She also claims she told her mother and a police officer at the time, but they're both dead now. NBC reports that she provided them with four names of people who could supposedly fortify her story in some way. Two didn't respond, one is deceased, and the other -- err -- doesn't know who she is. Oh. Meanwhile, Swetnick's ex-boyfriend of seven years appeared on Fox News last evening to discuss her credibility:
Richard Vinneccy said his decision to come forward has "nothing to do with political issues," adding that Swetnick threatened his family after they broke up and was "fixated with lawsuits." He also that in the seven years they dated, she never mentioned her claim of being a victim of gang rape and her attendance at as many as 10 "gang rape parties" -- some of which she said were also attended by Judge Brett Kavanaugh...Vinneccy said Swetnick was prone to "exaggeration" and that when they would have a verbal spat, she would "get in [his] face" and tell him to "hit" her. Ingraham asked why Vinneccy stayed with Swetnick for those many years if her behavior was so erratic. "I knew that I'd have to see her again [if I filed a formal report]. I talked to my family and we decided not to do anything because I didn't want to provoke her," Vinneccy said. He added that his relatives later changed their telephone numbers and moved to a new home to avoid contact with Swetnick.
He filed a restraining order against her, too -- one of quite a few bumps along the road for Swetnick. She's been a party to multiple lawsuits, including harrassment and defamation cases. A former employer caught her fabricating her resume. And then there's this, via the aforementioned Megyn Kelly, who seems to have smelled a rat for quite some time regarding Swetnick's Kavanaugh tale:
Also this, from ?@AP?, on Swetnick: she once sued MD transit claiming her broken nose cost her modeling jobs; the “employer” she cited said he was actually just a friend,1st met her in a bar a yr *after* her injury, never owned the co she listed, nor agreed to pay her b/4. pic.twitter.com/lgHno5PoqC
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) October 1, 2018
Might some people look at this woman's history, and her ludicrous, evolving claims about Kavanaugh, and conclude that she's an unstable, untrustworthy grifter? Perhaps. At the very least, she's got absolutely nothing backing up her story, including one of her own (living) "witnesses," who -- like dozens of Kavanaugh's high school friends -- has no clue who she is. This allegation, such as it even exists at all anymore, very much looks like baseless garbage. So, let's review: (1) The Yale accuser, by her own New York Times-reported admission, doesn't even know if Kavanaugh is the person who did the thing that she doesn't quite recall. The witnesses she alleges were present for the incident do not corroborate her story, nor does her college best friend. (2) The 1998 woman has specifically rejected the anonymous allegation made (supposedly) on her behalf. (3) The Rhode Island accusation has been fully recanted.
And (4) the gang rape cult appears to be a ridiculous, totally unsubstantiated myth, which is what it always seemed to be. Please recall, by the way, that all ten Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats added validity to Swetnick's claim, reacting to it with a unified demand that Kavanaugh withdraw his nomination. It was outrageous then; it's more outrageous now. The only remotely serious claim against Kavanaugh is from Dr. Ford, and the available evidence to back her allegation does not come close to meeting any reasonable standard of proof, to put it mildly. If the FBI does not turn up any game-changing allegations in the next few days, Judge Kavanaugh must be confirmed.