On Sept. 27, the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear testimony on sexual misconduct allegations against US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Now another woman, Julie Swetnick, has come forward with new allegations against Kavanaugh in a sworn statement, saying that he was part of a group of men who drugged and gang-raped young women, including herself, at parties throughout the early 1980s.
Swetnick’s affidavit, published on Twitter today (Sept. 26) by lawyer Michael Avenatti—whose clientele includes Stormy Daniels—contains damning accusations and a list of her security clearances, based on her work in the federal government. Her attorney also published emails showing he contacted the judiciary committee with this information on Sept. 24 and subsequently, but received no response. He is demanding an FBI investigation.
Yesterday, senators announced plans to vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation in the morning of Sept. 28, just one day after the judge and the woman who first accused him of sexual assault, Christine Blasey Ford, are scheduled to testify.
Swetnick’s statement contains incredibly damning allegations that would certainly disqualify Kavanaugh if proven true. She states:
During the years 1981-1982, I became aware of efforts by Mark Judge, Brett Kavanaugh and others to “spike” the “punch” at house parties I attended with drugs and/or grain alcohol so as to cause girls to lose their inhibitions and their ability to say “No.” This caused me to make an effort to purposefully avoid the “punch” at these parties. I witnessed efforts by Mark Judge, Brett Kavanaugh, and others to “Target” particular girls so they could be taken advantage of; it was usually a girl that was especially vulnerable because she was alone at the party or shy.
According to the affidavit, Swetnick says Kavanaugh and his friends “train” or “gang” raped women at parties. She says she has a “firm recollection” of seeing boys lined up to take turns with a girl in room, and Brett Kavanugh was among those in line. Despite her efforts to avoid being targeted herself, Swetnick swears that she was raped at a party in 1982. Her affidavit states:
In approximately 1982, I became the victim of one of these “gang” or “train” rapes where Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh were present. Shortly after the incident, I shared what had transpired with at least two other people. During the incident, I was incapacitated without my consent and unable to fight off the boys raping me. I believe I was drugged using Quaaludes or something similar placed in what I was drinking.
The accusations made by Swetnick lend support to Blasey Ford’s story. She said that she was attacked by Kavanaugh and his friend Judge at a high-school party. They also lend credence to the claims of Deborah Ramirez, who told The New Yorker on Sept. 23 that Kavanaugh drank excessively in college at Yale University and that he exposed himself to her at a party with others present.
Judge, a friend of Kavanaugh’s who documented his own struggle with alcoholism in a book that includes a character thought to be based on the Supreme Court nominee, has refused to speak about the accusations. But with this new statement by Swetnick, there will no doubt be increased pressure on the Senate Judiciary Committee to subpoena Kavanaugh’s high school buddy, who is implicated in two of the three misconduct claims. Swetnick says that Judge and Kavanaugh were “joined at the hip.”
For his part, Kavanaugh has denied the allegations against him, going on Fox News’ The Story on Sept. 24 with his wife Ashley to ask for a fair hearing and a chance to defend his integrity. He has previously said that he will not be intimidated into withdrawing his nomination.
In response to the latest allegations, Kavanaugh issued a statement to the press via the White House, saying, “This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I don’t know who this is and this never happened.”
US president Donald Trump, speaking at the United Nations yesterday, called the accusations against Kavanaugh part of a Democratic “con.” He told reporters:
It is a shame you can do this to a person’s life. I’ll tell you: Maybe even more important…Who is going to want to go before the system to be a Supreme Court judge or even a politician? I can tell you that false accusations of all type are made against a lot of people. This is a high quality person, and it would be a horrible insult to our country if this doesn’t happen. And it’ll be a horrible, horrible thing for future political people. It cannot be allowed to happen. And the Democrats are playing a con game, C-O-N.
But Republicans who are eager to confirm Kavanaugh have ample reason to reconsider their determination now, in light of Swetnick’s statement. Rushing to appoint a judge to the highest court in the land in the shadow of gang-rape allegations would be an audacious move—one that won’t serve Republicans well in the upcoming mid-term elections.
Trump has called Kavanaugh “one of the highest quality people.” But increasingly, the nominee who at first seemed like a sure bet has turned into a huge liability.