Third Woman Accuses Brett Kavanaugh of Sexual Misconduct

A third woman has accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, saying he was present at parties where girls were drugged and gang-raped.

Julie Swetnick says in an affidavit that the parties took place in the early 1980s, when both she and Kavanaugh were high school students, CNBC reports. The affidavit was posted online today by her attorney, Michael Avenatti, whose other clients include Stormy Daniels, the adult-film star who claims to have had a sexual encounter with Donald Trump.

Swetnick says the parties took place from 1981 to 1983 in the Washington, D.C., area, when Kavanaugh was a student at Georgetown Preparatory School. "I observed Brett Kavanaugh drink excessively at many of these parties and engage in abusive and physically aggressive behavior toward girls, including pressing girls against him without their consent, 'grinding' against girls, and attempting to remove or shift girls' clothing to expose private body parts," the affidavit says.

She goes on to say that Kavanaugh, his friend Mark Judge, and others would spike punch "with drugs and/or grain alcohol so as to cause girls to lose their inhibitions and their ability to say 'No.'" They targeted certain girls, particularly those who were shy or vulnerable, she says. Judge is the man who Christine Blasey Ford says was with Kavanaugh when the latter, she claims, attempted to rape her.

Swetnick then says she witnessed efforts to make girls become "inebriated or disoriented" so they could be gang-raped by a "train" of boys. "I have a firm recollection of seeing boys lined up outside rooms at many of these parties waiting for their 'turn' with a girl inside the room," she says. "These boys included Mark Judge and Brett Kavanaugh."

She became the victim of a gang rape where Judge and Kavanaugh were present, she says, although she does not name them as her specific attackers. "I was incapacitated without my consent and unable to fight off the boys raping me," she says. "I believe I was drugged using Quaaludes or something similar placed in what I was drinking." She told at least two other people about the attack shortly after it occurred, and she knows of "other witnesses that can attest to the truth" of her statements, she adds. She made her declaration under penalty of perjury.

Swetnick has held security clearances for several federal government posts.

Kavanaugh, who is to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday, along with Blasey Ford, responded to Swetnick's accusations by calling them ridiculous and "from The Twilight Zone," a reference to the famed TV series that told stories of science fiction and the supernatural. He said he does not know Swetnick. Kavanaugh has denied the allegations of Blasey Ford and a second accuser, Deborah Ramirez, who has said he sexually assaulted her at a party when they were Yale University students in 1983. He has said he never engaged in sexual assault, or indeed in any sexual activity, as a teen, and was focused on academics and service projects.

Avenatti provided a copy of Swetnick's affidavit to the Judiciary Committee, and the committee's lawyers are reviewing it, a spokeswoman for Sen. Chuck Grassley, the committee chairman, told CNBC.

Avenatti has demanded an immediate FBI investigation into Swetnick's allegations and said Kavanaugh should not be confirmed to the court absent a full investigation.

Sharon McGowan, chief strategy officer of Lambda Legal, issued a statement urging senators to oppose Kavanaugh's confirmation. "We salute the courage of Julie Swetnick, who has now become the third woman to subject herself to public scrutiny and ridicule because Senate Republicans and the White House refuse to take allegations of sexual assault seriously," she said. "With each new piece of information that comes to light, the public's concern over this nominee - and, frankly, the capacity of Senate Republicans to govern responsibly - increases. As we've said before, all it takes is two Republicans to end the spectacle that this nomination has become, and hit the reset button.

"While this is about the future of the Supreme Court, it has become about something even larger than that. This is about the future of our country. We know that during tomorrow's hearing, Brett Kavanaugh will essentially accuse these three women, and everyone who supports them, of being liars, just as President Trump and Senate Republicans have done this week. This is a test of the moral fiber of our country, and men, women, boys and girls are watching the Senate to determine whether Republicans are capable of putting moral decency ahead of party."