Graham lashes out at Avenatti: ‘Lawyer to porn stars’ takes this to ‘an even lower level’

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Wednesday slammed lawyer Michael Avenatti for releasing new allegations of sexual assault against President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh a day before Kavanaugh and one of his accusers is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“From my view, just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, it just did,” Graham said in a statement after Avenatti revealed the identity of his client on Twitter and released a sworn declaration from her accusing Kavanaugh of being present for a “gang rape” of which she was a victim during a high school party in 1982.

{mosads}“The lawyer to porn stars has just taken this debacle to an even lower level. I hope people will be highly suspicious of this allegation presented by Michael Avenatti,” Graham said, referring to Avenatti’s representation of adult-film star Stormy Daniels in her lawsuits against the president.

Julie Swetnick, of Washington, D.C., said she attended more than 10 house parties in the D.C. area from 1981 to 1983 where Kavanaugh was present and claims to have witnessed him “drinking excessively and engage in highly inappropriate conduct, including being overly aggressive with girls and not taking ‘No’ for an answer.”

At many of the parties she said she saw boys, including Kavanaugh, lined up “waiting for their ‘turn’ with a girl inside a room.”

She is the third woman to publicly accuse Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.

Kavanaugh quickly denied the allegations in a statement Wednesday, calling them ridiculous. He has also denied the allegations made by his previous accusers.

“This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I don’t know who this is and this never happened,” he said. 

Graham, who sits on the Judiciary Committee, questioned the validity of Swetnick’s claims.

“I have a difficult time believing any person would continue to go to — according to the affidavit — ten parties over a two-year period where women were routinely gang raped and not report it,” he said.

“I also find it curious these charges were not brought forward until 2018, two days before a confirmation vote,” Graham said. 

Graham asked why any reasonable person would continue to put themselves in danger by continuing to visit those parties.

“This is outrageous, internally inconsistent, and I hope the U.S. Senate will see this for the smear campaign that it is,” he said.

The Judiciary Committee is expected to hold a hearing Thursday during which the committee will hear from and question both Kavanaugh and his first public accuser, Christine Blasey Ford.