In the 24 hours leading up to Brett Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford‘s hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, new allegations against the Supreme Court nominee surfaced, headlined by Julie Swetnick, whose declaration was released by her attorney Michael Avenatti. That statement has since come under some criticism, such as from Harvard Law Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz, who discussed the matter Wednesday night with Tucker Carlson.
Swetnick claimed that she went to parties in the early 1980s that Kavanaugh attended, and accused him of getting girls drunk so that they could be taken advantage of, and raped by multiple men taking turns. Despite the alarming implications of the statement, the details–or in some cases lack thereof–raised several questions.
“That affidavit is so deeply flawed and so open ended that any good lawyer, any good defense attorney would be able to tear that apart in thirty seconds,” Dershowitz said, pulling no punches when it came to Swetnick’s declaration. He also went after Avenatti for thinking it was a good idea to go forward with it.
“It’s an embarrassment to the law that anyone would file an affidavit like that.”
Carlson asked if it was so bad that Avenatti could face professional consequences, when Carlson made the suggestion.
“No, I don’t think it reaches that line,” he said, indicating that while it may not have been good work, it wasn’t unethical.
Dershowitz noted the serious questions left open by the affidavit, such as whether Swetnick claims that Kavanaugh himself was involved in her rape, or why known repeated gang rapes were never brought to the attention of authorities
“Any lawyer who loves cross-examination would love nothing more than to examine a witness holding that affidavit in his hand, saying, ‘Here! Here Here!'”
Dershowitz then claimed that Avenatti doesn’t even care about the weaknesses of the allegations, because he still accomplished what he set out to do.
“All he cares about is getting the headline,” he said.
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