Avenatti Tells Grassley to Start Criminal Investigation ‘Tonight’

Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and who oversaw the hearings into the sexual assault allegations against now-confirmed Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, wants lawyer Michael Avenatti and his client Julie Swetnick investigated by the United States Justice Department, claiming that the two made “materially false” statements to the committee during its hearings into the Kavanaugh accusations, according to a Washington Post report Thursday afternoon. Swetnick, as AVN.com reported, alleged that as a teenager, Kavanaugh participated in parties at which women were drugged with “spiked punch” and sexually violated while they were incapacitated by multiple high school boys. The 55-year-old also said that she was the victim of one such “gang rape,” though she did not allege that Kavanaugh was among her attackers. Kavanugh denied Swetnick’s claims, saying they were from “the Twilight Zone.” “When charlatans make false claims to the committee—claims that may earn them short-term media exposure and financial gain, but which hinder the committee’s ability to do its job—there should be consequences,” Grassley wrote to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI director Christopher Wray. “These laws exist to ensure there are.” But Avenatti, best known for representing AVN Hall of Famer Stormy Daniels in her lawsuits against Donald Trump, quickly responded to Grassley, saying that he welcomed such an investigation, and in fact called for the probe to begin “tonight.” “I will make my client [Swetnick] available for a sworn interview and you can make Judge Kavanaugh available for a sworn interview,” Avenatti wrote to Grassley on his Twitter account. “We also have 9 other witnesses we want interviewed and specific documents we want requested. Let’s go.” In a separate Twitter message, Avenatti called it “ironic” that Grassley has now called for an investigation into Swetnick, when “he didn’t care when it came to putting a man on the SCOTUS for life.” With a criminal investigation, Aveatti wrote, “we can finally get to the bottom of Judge Kavanaugh’s lies and conduct.” He also called Grassley’s request for a Justice Department probe, “Christmas in October.”  “Maybe if Grassley was actually a lawyer that knew something about the law, he would realize what he has done,” Avenatti wrote. “He just opened up Pandora’s box as it relates to Justice Kavanaugh’s conduct.” According to The Post, the Justice Department would not comment on whether it would pursue the investigation into Swetnick and Avenatti requested by Grassley. Kavanaugh also declined to comment, through a spokesperson. Photos By United States Senate Public Domain/Luke Harold/Wikimedia Commons