Michael Avenatti is having a bad week.
The porn star lawyer this week was hit with 4.85 million legal fee, now Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley has referred Avenatti and his client, Julie Swetnick, for criminal investigation regarding a potential “conspiracy” to provide false statements to Congress and obstruct its investigation.
Michael Avenatti represents Julie Swetick who accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct at the 11th hour before his Supreme Court confirmation.
Swetnick accused Kavanaugh during the confirmation proceedings of being involved in or present at “gang” and “train” rapes at high school parties in the 1980s. He denied it.
On Thursday, Chairman Grassley wrote a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray writing that Swetnick and Avenatti’s allegations were leveled at a “suspicious” time.
He wrote, “When a well-meaning citizen comes forward with information relevant to the committee’s work, I take it seriously. It takes courage to come forward, especially with allegations of sexual misconduct or personal trauma. I’m grateful for those who find that courage.” (Continued Below)
Grassley continued, “But in the heat of partisan moments, some do try to knowingly mislead the committee. That’s unfair to my colleagues, the nominees, and others providing information who are seeking the truth. It stifles our ability to work on legitimate lines of inquiry. It also wastes time and resources for destructive reasons.”
Read full letter HERE.
Shortly after, Avenatti took to twitter to respond. (Continued Below)
Avenatti tweeted, “It is ironic that Senator Grassley now is interested in investigations. He didn’t care when it came to putting a man on the SCOTUS for life. We welcome the investigation as now we can finally get to the bottom of Judge Kavanaugh’s lies and conduct. Let the truth be known.”
He added, “Maybe if Grassley was actually a lawyer that knew something about the law, he would realize what he has done. He just opened up Pandora’s box as it relates to Justice Kavanaugh’s conduct. It is Christmas in October!”
It is ironic that Senator Grassley now is interested in investigations. He didn’t care when it came to putting a man on the SCOTUS for life. We welcome the investigation as now we can finally get to the bottom of Judge Kavanaugh’s lies and conduct. Let the truth be known.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 25, 2018
Maybe if Grassley was actually a lawyer that knew something about the law, he would realize what he has done. He just opened up Pandora’s box as it relates to Justice Kavanaugh’s conduct. It is Christmas in October!
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 25, 2018
(Continued Below)
Official Tweets from the Senate Judiciary:
Swetnick, Avenatti Referred for Criminal Investigation: Providing False Statements, Obstructing Congressional Investigations, and Conspiracy All Violate Federal Law https://t.co/wbfSSCfMfe
— Senate Judiciary Republicans (@SenJudiciaryGOP) October 25, 2018
Chairman @ChuckGrassley today referred Julie Swetnick and her attorney Michael Avenatti to @TheJusticeDept for criminal investigation relating to a potential conspiracy to provide materially false statements to Congress and obstruct a congressional committee investigation.
— Senate Judiciary (@senjudiciary) October 25, 2018
“When a well-meaning citizen comes forward with information relevant to the committee’s work, I take it seriously. It takes courage to come forward, especially with allegations of sexual misconduct or personal trauma. I’m grateful for those who find that courage.”—@ChuckGrassley
— Senate Judiciary (@senjudiciary) October 25, 2018
“But in the heat of partisan moments, some do try to knowingly mislead the committee. That’s unfair to my colleagues, the nominees and others providing information who are seeking the truth. It stifles our ability to work on legitimate lines of inquiry.”—@ChuckGrassley
— Senate Judiciary (@senjudiciary) October 25, 2018
“It also wastes time and resources for destructive reasons. Thankfully, 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.”—@ChuckGrassley
— Senate Judiciary (@senjudiciary) October 25, 2018
(Continued Below)
“I don’t take lightly making a referral of this nature, but ignoring this behavior will just invite more of it in the future.”—@ChuckGrassley
— Senate Judiciary (@senjudiciary) October 25, 2018
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.
— Senate Judiciary (@senjudiciary) October 25, 2018
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,…
— Senate Judiciary (@senjudiciary) October 25, 2018
…the lack of substantiating or corroborating evidence, and the overarching and serious credibility problems pervading the presentation of these allegations.
— Senate Judiciary (@senjudiciary) October 25, 2018
Swetnick made her allegations in a sworn statement to the committee on September 26. In an October 1 interview with NBC News, however, Swetnick specifically and explicitly back-tracked or contradicted key parts of her sworn statement on these and other allegations.
— Senate Judiciary (@senjudiciary) October 25, 2018
In subsequent interviews, Avenatti likewise cast serious doubt on or contradicted the allegations while insisting that he had thoroughly vetted his client.
— Senate Judiciary (@senjudiciary) October 25, 2018
