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Trump Mocks Ford’s Testimony on Kavanaugh; McConnell Casts Doubts on Swetnick’s Claims

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As the FBI continues its investigation into the past of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell attacked the claims of sexual misconduct brought against Kavanaugh by Julie Swetnick who is being represented by Michael Avenatti.

According to a CNN report, Swetnick said Kavanaugh was present at a high school party where she was the victim of a “gang” rape. She did not identify Kavanaugh as one of her attackers. She also said over a series of parties, she saw Kavanaugh “consistently engage in excessive drinking and inappropriate contact of a sexual nature with women during the early 1980s.”

McConnell has based his claims against the veracity of Swetnick’s statements on a lawsuit that was brought against her 18 years ago. In a statement that McConnell released on Sunday, he said that Swetnick was employed by a company known as WebTrends Corporation and in 2000 court documents indicate that a lawsuit accusing her of sexual harassment was filed and then dismissed.

CNN obtained the complaint against Swetnick and a passage of it says: “Shortly after becoming employed with WebTrends, a co-worker reported to WebTrends’ human resources department that Swetnick had engaged in unwelcome, sexually offensive conduct. Rather than accept responsibility for her actions, Swetnick made false and retaliatory allegations that other co-workers had engaged in inappropriate conduct toward her.”

According to the complaint by WebTrends, Swetnick  provided “false information on her employment application, including the claim she graduated from Johns Hopkins University, when the company said the university has no record of her attendance. She is also accused of falsely characterizing her past work experience.”

Speaking to CNN, Avenatti said the claim against his client is  “completely bogus, which is why it was dismissed almost immediately.”

He claims that the lawsuit filed against Swetnick by WebTrends was retaliatory in nature because she had submitted a claim against the company.

“They filed then. And they dismissed it because it has no merit,” he said.

According to two sources who spoke to CNN, Swetnick also filed a different sexual harassment complaint against a former employer, New York Life, a decade ago and was represented in the matter by the firm of the current lawyer for Professor Christine Blasey Ford, who has testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week.

Avenatti has said there was “no coordination whatsoever” between Debra Katz (who represents Ford) and his client on Swetnick’s accusation against Kavanaugh.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday night Trump mocked Ford’s testimony at a campaign rally in Tennessee. He cast aspersions on her inability to recall details of the sexual assault allegations that she charged Kavanaugh with.

 

“I had one beer. Well, do you think it was — nope, it was one beer,” Trump said, mimicking Ford’s testimony last week to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

“How did you get home? I don’t remember. How’d you get there? I don’t remember. Where is the place? I don’t remember. How many years ago was it? I don’t know.”

Trump’s comments were met with laughter and applause from the crowd.

Trump seemed to change his tune from comments he made on Monday in which he had  been conciliatory toward Ford, calling her a “good witness” and saying that he respected her position very much.

“With all of that you cannot say that we’ve done anything but be respectful, and I do. I respect her position very much. I respect her position very much,” Trump said to reporters on Monday.

 

 

 

 

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