If you've paid attention even the slightest to the Senate confirmation hearing/roundup/clown show/fiesta-fiasco surrounding Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, then you are aware of the numerous dramatic hysterics that have been attached. Following a moderately contentious hearing, suddenly a rush of “surprise” witnesses have come forward claiming various levels of impropriety by the nominee in his youth -- with one bearing a connection to South Florida.
A number of accusers have come forward in the furor of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford alleging that she was victimized by a drunken Brett Kavanaugh in a sexual attack that took place in the late 1980s. Or the mid-'80s ... or the early '80s, or maybe in the summer of 1982. It has been tough to pin down a date, given Dr. Ford’s constant alterations to her story. A few other questionable accusers have come forward (slightly), the most confounding being Julie Swetnick.
Swetnick has been brought to the public square courtesy of celebrity lawyer and attendee of the MTV Video Awards, Michael Avenatti. It was on Sept. 26 that Avenatti submitted a sworn declaration from Swetnick announcing that she had attended a series of parties where girls were drugged and then preyed upon by a lineup of boys who would gang-rape the victim. At one point Swetnick states she became one of these victims.
As her lawyer, Avenatti was stomping his feet, demanding that Senate leaders pay attention to him, Swetnick faced a credibility challenge from an ex-boyfriend. And here comes the Florida connection: Miami resident Richard Vinneccy came forward to state that following their four-year relationship, he filed a petition for a restraining order against Swetnick in a Miami-Dade court. Vinneccy said Swetnick had become belligerent, and he sought some legal protection. “She was threatening my family, threatening my wife and threatening to do harm to my baby at that time,” he details.
The restraining order never was carried out, and the case dismissed, when Vinneccy failed to appear to complete the order. He explains that when he realized this may entail seeing Swetnick again, he chose to let the matter drop. He moved his family thereafter.
In light of the allegations Swetnick has brought forward, Vinneccy contests her account of what happened. “Nobody knows Julie Swetnick better,” he said in an interview with The Ingraham Angle. “I really don’t believe her.”
As lurid as her accusation is, Swetnick’s tale of ribaldry is rife with pause-inducing head-scratching moments. For one, she said she attended well over 10 of these parties, over the course of two summers. She was so aware of what supposedly transpired that she knew not to drink the punch, and she details how the boys lined up in a hallway awaiting their turn with the incapacitated females. Disturbing details, to be sure.
Yet she contends she repeatedly attended these parties, knowing the attacks that were transpiring? And what does it say that Swetnick never intervened to protect these girls, nor went to authorities or any other individuals in power regarding these depredations? Tellingly as well, her statement is very carefully worded, in that she never actually accuses Kavanaugh of participating in the criminality of her report. He is in attendance, and witnessed things, is the extent of her claim. On October 1 Swetnick sat for an interview with Kate Snow, at NBC, and it was less than impressive.
When the segment opens with the statement that the network has been unable to verify the details in Swetnick’s claims, that her attorney Michael Avenatti had not supplied names to anyone who may have witnessed the rape, AND that details in the interview differ from the sworn statement that she provided, you are off to a shaky start. Additionally Swetnick gave four names of individuals who could corroborate these parties and that the rapes took place. Two failed to respond. One stated he/she did not know of Julie Swetnick, and the last was deceased.
Despite this largely useless interview -- the story is admittedly compromised, no facts are verified, and any witness given is a dead end (literally) -- NBC still went forward broadcasting this disaster. The journalistic irresponsibility here is blatant. Swetnick is entirely absent credibility, and this was actually predicted by Vinneccy. “Never, never once [did] she mention that to me. We used to talk about everything. She never once mentioned that at all. . . . If you ask me personally if I believe her, I don’t believe her.”
Swetnick’s sworn statement means she could be guilty of perjury, depending on which elements, if any, are proven to be falsely submitted. Even her declaration that she could attest that other witnesses would support her comments is looking suspect at this time. Like so many of the other claims against Kavanaugh, Swetnick’s appear blatantly weak. And like all those others, the partisans are going to hold the accusations as concrete proof, to push an agenda.
Brad Slager, a Fort Lauderdale freelance writer, wrote this story exclusively for Sunshine State News. He writes on politics and the entertainment industry and his stories appear in such publications as RedState and The Federalist.
