Judiciary committee report clears Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault allegations According to a 414-page report released by Senate Judiciary ...
According to a 414-page report released by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), there is âno evidenceâ that Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted any of his accusers, but there is evidence that some of Kavanaughâs accusers may have been involved in a criminal conspiracy to mislead the committee.
In a lengthy series of tweets, the Judiciary Committee announced the report and explained some of the work that went into its compilation.
The report took special aim at Kavanaugh accuser Julie Swetnick, who issued a sworn statement just days before a planned Judiciary Committee vote that accused Kavanaugh of having participated in numerous parties where he drugged women in order to gang rape them. Swetnick was represented by Michael Avenatti, who also represents porn star Stormy Daniels, who has accused President Trump of ha ving an affair with her several years ago. Avenatti is widely expected to run for president as a Democrat in 2020.
Swetnickâs original statement was initially revealed in a tweet from Avenatti. According to the committee report, judiciary committee staffers contacted Avenatti âten minutesâ after the tweet was posted. According to the report, âAlthough Avenatti alluded to having evidence to support his clientâs claims, he refused to produce anything for several days, notwithstanding the Committeeâs repeated requests. Ultimately, Avenatti provided the Committee with only a sworn declaration from Swetnick. He posted a redacted declaration from an alleged supporting witness on his Twitter account on October 2 and 3, but he refused to identify the author.â
The report also claims that committee investigators attempted to schedule an interview with Swetnick, but that Avenatti refused the request. The report notes, however, that Swetnick granted an interview to MSN BC, where she âmade several statements that differed from her declaration.â
For example, although she maintained that she saw Justice Kavanaugh drink heavily and act aggressively toward women, she did not say that she actually saw him spike the punch or wait in a line to take part in gang rapes at the parties, as she asserted to the Committee via her declaration. Despite the fact her signed statement claimed it was based âon personal information,â when challenged by CNN about the inconsistencies, Avenatti later conceded: âOne of her friends informed her of what she just put in the declaration or what was attested to in the declaration.â
The report claims that committee staffers conducted numerous interviews with individuals who knew either Kavanaugh or Swetnick at the time of the allegations, and none of them âwitnessed any behavior that even approached the conduct described in Swetnickâs declaration.â
According to the rep ort, committee staffers conducted additional investigation into Swetnickâs background, and found that she had a âlengthy history of litigation,â including litigation in which she was represented by the same firm that represented Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford, that she was significantly in debt, that she was accused by a previous employer of having engaged in âunwelcome sexual innuendo and appropriate conduct at work.â
The report concluded that
The Committee found no verifiable evidence to support Swetnickâs allegations. Indeed, the evidence appears to support the position that Julie Swetnick and Mr. Avenatti criminally conspired to make materially false statements to the Committee and obstruct the Committeeâs investigation. Accordingly, the Committee referred both to the Department of Justice and FBI for investigation and potential violations of 18 U.S.C. § 371, § 1001, and § 1505 on October 25, 2018. In addition, on October 26, 201 8, the Committee made a second criminal referral against Michael Avenatti to the Justice Department and FBI for investigation of potential violations of 18 U.S.C. §Â§ 1001 (knowingly providing materially false statements) and 1505 (obstruction of a congressional investigation), based upon the NBC story that evidenced that Mr. Avenatti may have fabricated allegations by a second declarant.
The report also explained the committeeâs decision to refer a woman named Judy Munro-Leighton to the FBI for possible investigation.
After the Committee released the transcript of the interview with Justice Kavanaugh, a woman named Judy Munro-Leighton sent an email to the Senate Judiciary Committee claiming to be Jane Doe. She included a version of the letterâs text and said she felt compelled to contact the Committee because she ârefuse[d] to allow Donald J. Trump to use me or my story as an ugly chant at one of his Republican rallies.â The Committee q uickly concluded that Munro-Leighton was unlikely to be the author. The text of the letter in Munro-Leightonâs email to the Committee differed from the original handwritten letter in several respects, including punctuation and the omission of a duplicate instance of the word âand.â Committee investigators determined that the text from Munro-Leightonâs email was, however, identical in all respects to the previously publicly released transcript from the telephonic interview, suggesting she copied it from the press. Investigators also examined Munro-Leightonâs background and determined she was a liberal activist who resided in Kentucky, far from the location of the letterâs San Diego postmark. Committee investigators tried to contact her on multiple occasions. On November 1, 2018, MunroLeighton called back and admitted that she was not âJane Doeâ and that her email to the committee âwas just a ployâ and that she used it as a way to âget attention.â Investigators asked her if she had ever met Justice Kavanaugh, to which she replied, âOh Lord, no.â
All Republicans except for Montana Senator Steve Daines (who was out of town for his daughterâs wedding) and Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski (who would have voted no, but changed her vote to âabstainâ as a courtesy to Daines) voted to confirm Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. All Democrats except for West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin voted against his confirmation.
The ânoâ vote cast by North Dakota Democrat Heidi Heitkamp appears to have doomed her already precarious chances at re-election in 2018. Indiana Democrat Joe Donnellyâs vote against Kavanaughâs confirmation has also endangered his re-election chances. The furor over Kavanaughâs bitterly contentious confirmation hearings has likely energized both sides as the midterm elections approach.
Source: Google News | Netizen 24 United States
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