Lawyer Michael Avenatti may have inadvertently helped confirm President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh, according to the White House.
White House spokeswoman for Kavanaugh’s confirmation team Kerri Kupec told the following to The Hill .
“I think it took things to such an absurd point, and that’s when you really saw so many Americans across the country saying okay, enough is enough, this is ridiculous. This is no longer a fair evaluation of an individual for the Supreme Court seat, but this is a search and destroy.”
Avenatti represents adult film star Stormy Daniels in her lawsuit against Donald Trump and his former longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen. He also represents Julie Swetnick, a woman who alleged last month that Judge Kavanaugh was part of a gang-rape scheme in high school.
The third woman to publicly accuse Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, Swetnick claims that she was raped by Kavanaugh and his friend Mark Judge. Swetnick is the child of government bureaucrats, according to the Business Insider , who works as a web developer. She has held multiple security clearances.
Swetnick’s sworn declaration, made public by Avenatti, alleges that she attended at least 10 parties where Kavanaugh and Judge were present. Kavanaugh and others, according to Swetnick, organized the alleged gang-rape parties in the 1980s. She claims to have been one of their victims.
Her allegations have been “treated less seriously” than allegations brought up against Kavanaugh by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Deborah Ramirez, according to the Business Insider .
It is not only the White House that claims Avenatti – who continues to make regular appearances at cable news stations, eyeing a 2020 presidential bid – inadvertently helped confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Many on the left appear to share this sentiment.
White House suggests Avenatti helped confirm Kavanaugh https://t.co/LyDmoNkqP0 pic.twitter.com/IMvjSG6IUW
— The Hill (@thehill) October 9, 2018
Democratic Senator Gary Peters, for instance, argued that the Democrats “should have focused on the serious allegations,” instead of letting Avenatti claim the spotlight, CNBC reported yesterday.
According to the same media outlet, a slew of Democratic senators and Democratic Party operatives anonymously suggested to reporters that Avenatti had shifted the conversation, ruining the credibility of individuals like Dr. Christine Blasey Ford – who testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee – and possibly helping Brett Kavanaugh get confirmed.
This sentiment is seemingly shared by many politicians, journalists, and pundits on the left.
The Washington Post , for instance, suggested that Avenatti and Swetnick may have helped “doom” the case against Kavanaugh, helping Republicans discredit other Kavanaugh accusers.
Similarly, libertarian Reason’s Robby Soave argued in a column that Avenatti and Swetnick had hurt the credibility of Ford and Ramirez.
Swetnick responded to these accusations via a statement published by Michael Avenatti on Twitter , arguing that they show a “lack of empathy” for sexual assault survivors.