GOP senator suggests criminal referral for third Kavanaugh accuser’s ‘apparently false affidavit’

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said Tuesday that one of the women accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct should be referred to the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) for sending what he said was a false affidavit.

A criminal referral should be sent to the FBI/DOJ regarding the apparently false affidavit signed by Julie Swetnick that was submitted to the Senate by @MichaelAvenatti.

— U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (@SenBillCassidy) October 2, 2018

In her sworn affidavit, Julie Swetnick, the third woman to accuse Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, said that she “witnessed efforts by…Kavanaugh…to cause girls to become inebriated and disoriented so they could then be ‘gang raped’ in a side room.” 

{mosads}Swetnick appeared to couch her claims during a Monday interview with NBC News’s Kate Snow.

“I saw him [Kavanaugh] giving red solo cups to quite a few girls during that time frame, and there was grain punch at those parties,” she said. “I don’t know what he did, but I saw him by them.”

“I would not take one of those glasses from…Brett Kavanaugh,” Swetnick added, reiterating her claim that she saw Kavanaugh act aggressively towards women while inebriated.

She also stated, as she had in her affidavit, that she believed Kavanaugh may have been involved in gang-raping girls at the house parties they both attended and that Kavanaugh was present at the party where Swetnick herself was gang-raped.

“Until what happened to me happened to me, I didn’t put two and two together,” she said Monday. “I would see boys, standing outside of rooms, congregated together, sort of like a gauntlet and I didn’t know what was occurring, but I would see them laughing.”

Snow said that Swetnick provided four names of people who could confirm her description of the house parties in the 1980s. 

Of the four, two did not respond, one said they did not recall Swetnick, and NBC found that the fourth was deceased.

Donald Trump Jr. and Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) sharply criticized Swetnick after the interview.

Hatch mocked Democrats for calling Swetnick’s allegation credible, given NBC’s inability to find someone to corroborate it.

NBC: She provided four names that she said could confirm her descriptions of the parties in the 1980s. NBC News contacted all four: one said they did not remember a Julie Swetnick, one was dead, and two did not respond.

Democrats: Credible allegation! https://t.co/wyt2ZENx8d

— Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) October 2, 2018

So she lied in a sworn statement. If that’s the case the senate better act on it!

WATCH: Kavanaugh Accuser Julie Swetnick Backtracks on Some Claims in Extensive NBC News Interview https://t.co/VVKecDBhOg

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) October 2, 2018

The lawyer who brought forward Swetnick’s claims, Michael Avenatti, defended his client Tuesday.

Donald Trump and his right wing hacks are claiming my client isn’t credible. If true, then why don’t they want the FBI taking a few hours to interview her and speak to the other witnesses? You would think they would want to discredit us both if the allegations were so untrue.

— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 2, 2018

The FBI is currently conducting a weeklong investigation into the sexual misconduct claims against Kavanaugh.