Michael Avenatti’s fifteen minutes of fame are up, and rather than fall into obscurity, his house of cards is collapsing altogether. Already in legal trouble, the Senate Judiciary Committee is now referring both Avenatti and his client, Kavanaugh accuser Julie Swetnick, for criminal investigation over (allegedly) providing false statements, obstructing congressional investigations, and conspiracy.
Swetnick, Avenatti Referred for Criminal Investigation: Providing False Statements, Obstructing Congressional Investigations, and Conspiracy All Violate Federal Law https://t.co/wbfSSCfMfe
— Senate Judiciary (@senjudiciary) October 25, 2018
According to the key parts of the Senate Judiciary statement:
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
The Committee also noted that Swetnick made her allegations in a sworn statement to the Committee on September 26th, which she later contradicted during an interview on October 1st with MSNBC.
Julie Swetnick’s bogus claims against Brett Kavanaugh
The liberal Harvard lawyer Alan Dershowitz called Julie Swetnick’s affidavit an “embarrassment to the law,” and it certainly was an embarrassment to the media that she was given airtime. Like all of Kavanaugh’s accusers, Swetnick couldn’t produce a single witness to verify her claims. Unlike other witnesses, a friend of Swetnick came out to confirm that the incident Swetnick described actually never occurred, and that her actions were politically motivated.
A boyfriend of Swetnick, Richard Vinneccy, filed an injunction against her in 2001 in Miami and claims she threatened him and his family after they split. During an appearance on Fox, Mr. Vinneccy said: “I don’t believe her. I really don’t believe her.” He added: “She always wanted to be the center of attention… She was exaggerating everything. Everything that came out of her mouth was just exaggerations.” Vinneccy said that during their entire relationship, Swetnick never claimed to have been sexually assaulted.
Swetnick has had sexual misconduct charges levied against her, and was sued by Webtrends, a company where she was employed in 2000. In the lawsuit, Webtrends noted that Swetnick claimed she graduated from Johns Hopkins University even though they could find no record of her attending. She also allegedly made false claims about her work history.
Avenatti’s legal problems continue to mount
A Senate Judiciary investigation is just Avenatti’s latest problem. While Avenatti claims he’ll be running for President in 2020, if he does, the controversy surrounding his tax returns would likely be larger than the one surrounding Trump’s.
Avenatti owes $2.4 million to the IRS for unpaid taxes on companies he controls. In addition to the $2.4 million in business taxes Avenatti owes, two liens against him show he owes at least $1.2 million personally. His former law firm “Eagan Avenatti” owes $213,253 in unpaid rent, and Avenatti never paid the $126,000 settlement he owed to a woman he fired for getting pregnant.
His 2020 campaign sure will be entertaining, won’t it?
