Democrats say Avenatti undercut their case against Kavanaugh
By Manu Raju, Senior Congressional Correspondent
Updated 2:41 PM ET, Sat October 6, 2018
(CNN)Senate Democrats believed they had Brett Kavanaugh on the ropes.
Christine Blasey Ford had just revealed her identity and was prepared to testify in public, detailing her allegations that Kavanaugh had tried to sexual assault her more than three decades ago. On top of that, a New Yorker article had just revealed that a second woman, Deborah Ramirez, was accusing Kavanaugh of exposing his genitals to her while they were college students.
Then came Michael Avenatti.
The combative lawyer, who represents Stormy Daniels and has been a ubiquitous presence on cable television, revealed a stunning new allegation: A woman, Julie Swetnick, said she had witnessed the Supreme Court nominee attending more than 10 house parties between 1981 and 1983 where Kavanaugh and his friend, Mark Judge, were present. At some of those parties, she alleged, Kavanaugh was "fondling and grabbing girls without their consent" and, along with others, spiking drinks to force girls to lose their inhibitions.
She also alleged that at some parties, boys lined up by a bedroom to "gang-rape" incapacitated girls and claimed those in the lineup included Kavanaugh and Judge. But she did not say Kavanaugh or Judge assaulted the girls in the bedroom, nor did she provide the names of corroborating witnesses.
Kavanaugh furiously denied the allegations.
more
https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/06/politics/democrats-avenatti-swetnick-accusation/index.html
