Julie Swetnick became the third woman to accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct after her lawyer tweeted a declaration of the allegations on Wednesday.
According to the declaration, shared by lawyer Michael Avenatti, Swetnick said she met Kavanaugh and his school friend, Mark Judge, in the 1980s and attended several parties in which the two were present.
“On numerous occasions at these parties, I witnessed Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh drink excessively and engage in highly inappropriate conduct, including being overly aggressive with girls and not taking ‘No’ for an answer,” she said. “This conduct included the fondling and grabbing of girls without their consent.”
Below is my correspondence to Mr. Davis of moments ago, together with a sworn declaration from my client. We demand an immediate FBI investigation into the allegations. Under no circumstances should Brett Kavanaugh be confirmed absent a full and complete investigation. pic.twitter.com/QHbHBbbfbE
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) September 26, 2018
Swetnick’s declaration comes a day before Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford, who has accused Kavanaugh of groping her and attempting to remove her clothes when they were both teenagers, are set to testify in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Kavanaugh staunchly denies ever sexually assaulting anyone, and his allies have questioned the credibility of Ford and a second accuser, Deborah Ramirez, based in part on what they say is a lack of corroboration. Judge, who Ford said was present at the time of the assault, said in a letter sent to the Judiciary Committee by his lawyer that he had “no memory of this alleged incident”. Trump has dismissed the accusations against his Supreme Court pick as a “Democratic con job”.
Ford’s lawyers submit 4 affidavits of support
Meanwhile on Wednesday, Ford’s lawyers said they gave the Senate sworn affidavits from four people who say she told them well before Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination that she had been sexually assaulted when she was much younger.
And according to all four, she either named Kavanaugh as the assailant or described the attacker as a “federal judge.”
On Tuesday, the Judiciary Committee has scheduled a vote on whether to recommend Kavanaugh to the full Senate for Friday. Republican leaders laid plans that could keep the full Senate in session over the weekend and produce a final showdown roll call soon after – close to the October 1 start of the high court’s new term.
The controversy over Kavanaugh is unfolding just weeks before November 6 congressional elections in which Democrats are trying to take control of Congress from Trump’s fellow Republicans, against a backdrop of the #MeToo movement fighting sexual harassment and assault.
SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies
