Avenatti Ignored by FBI, Says ‘We Will Proceed With Other Options’

Julie Swetnick and her lawyer are getting frustrated and very, very impatient.

Swetnick is the third Kavanaugh accuser, who said she was gang raped by the Supreme Court nominee and his friends when in high school. She is represented by Michael Avenatti, who has become one of the most famous lawyers in America.

Avenatti has won over a billion dollars of judgments in lawsuits for his clients, who are typically considered “the underdog” or “the little guy.” He has delighted in being a thorn in Donald Trump’s side by representing Stormy Daniels, and he predicted months before it happened that Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, would be found guilty of multiple crimes and go to jail.

Because of his prominence (and the fact he’s on TV almost every day) Avenatti is contacted (according to him) by literally thousand of people seeking legal representation. He and his associates have to go through and research which ones are credible, and he did that with Julie Swetnick. He has said many times that not only is she telling the truth but that they have lined up OTHER witnesses who will testify under oath about the Kavanaugh gang rapes.

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Over the past week Avenatti’s frustration level has grown every day, as evidenced by his string of tweets. He has contacted the Judiciary Committee, asking that his client be allowed to tell her story. He has contacted the FBI, asking that they investigate his client’s claims against Kavanaugh.

He has also gone on television dozens of times, pleading to whoever will listen that his client needs to be heard. He says he wants the truth of her story to be told to the American public BEFORE Kavanaugh gets a seat on the Supreme Court.

Most people thought that Friday’s announcement of a new FBI probe into Kavanaugh’s background would surely lead to Swetnick being given a chance to testify under oath. But that hasn’t happened, and it may never happen, despite Donald Trump’s assurances otherwise.

So this morning came the latest tweet from Avenatti, in which he lets the world know what’s going on, and what he and his client intend to do next:

“Be clear: 1. I CANNOT just walk my client into an FBI office. We tried that. They claim they don’t have jurisdiction and they refuse to take a stmt. 2. While we may file a criminal complaint, that will have no bearing on any vote due to timing. We will proceed with other options.”

As his tweet points out, Avenatti has tried to go directly to the FBI and he was rebuffed. He could file criminal charges, but that would have no bearing on a Senate vote on Kavanaugh’s confirmation this week. (Although it could lead to impeachment and possible criminal charges later.)

What is most intriguing is his last sentence, where he makes clear that he and Julie Swetnick have “other options.”

From the beginning we’ve been hoping that Swetnick’s story would be told through the media, on national television. That way the story would be “out there” even if it has been swept under the carpet by the FBI and the Republicans.

And that is what it appears that Avenatti and his client will soon be doing. We don’t know if this will stop Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court. We do know it will have political consequences for those senators who go on record as voting to confirm an accused rapist to the Supreme Court.

Julie Swetnick, Michael Avenatti, and most Americans are fed up with the stalling and the lying. We want the truth, and we want it now. And we are counting on Michael Avenatti to make sure we get it.

Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.