especially regarding the notable absence of Ford’s family from the ranks of her public supporters. Neighbors, friends, and country club members got the distinct impression that while Ford’s family supported her, they were relieved that her uncorroborated story hadn’t destroyed Kavanaugh.
Things were going even worse for Julie Swetnick. NBC’s Kate Snow recorded an interview with her on Sunday, to be broadcast the following day.28 The delay was reportedly to allow the network to verify her statements and decide what to air, although NBC ultimately aired the interview despite not being able “to independently verify her claims.” The network acknowledged that “there are things that she told us on camera that differ from her written statement last week,” and that she was even “unclear about when she first decided to come forward.” Since the publication of her sworn allegation that Kavanaugh was part of a long-running gang-rape cartel, Swetnick’s credibility had been in doubt. Ex-boyfriends alerted authorities to her character problems; it was revealed that a former employer had fired her over falsified job history and her own sexual impropriety on the job; and curious ties to Debra Katz’s firm began popping up.
The interview, conducted under soft lighting, began with Swetnick’s describing herself as “shy” and “private,” “not somebody who follows the news,” “not political at all.” Her allegation against Kavanaugh bore resemblances to the others. He was a mean and sloppy drunk. He tried to “shift girls’ clothing,” as Ford had previously alleged. Like Ford, she cited four witnesses, none of whom was able to corroborate her account.
Swetnick’s story, like Ford’s, had changed, although Swetnick called her own earlier sworn declaration into question. She had earlier sworn that Kavanaugh and Judge were spiking the punch, but now told Snow that they were simply handing out cups and were near the punch. She had written under oath that she saw Kavanaugh and Judge waiting in line for their turn to rape a drugged girl. She now told Snow that she could be sure only that they were standing not in lines but in groups of boys outside rooms like the one she later was raped in, adding that “it’s just too coincidental.” She had previously sworn that Kavanaugh and Judge were present at her rape. She now told Snow only that she had seen them earlier at the same party, and she echoed Ford’s most salient memory: “I could hear them laughing and laughing.” She also called into question her own timeline of the events. In her affidavit, Swetnick stated that she had attended the parties from 1981 to 1983. Yet she told Snow that she stopped attending after being raped at one of the parties at age nineteen. She turned twenty in 1982, so if her NBC interview is to be believed, her earlier date range was incorrect. Swetnick also said that Kavanaugh and his classmates wore their school uniforms to the parties because “they were very proud” of Georgetown Prep. But that school had only a dress code, not a uniform, and the boys couldn’t wait to get out of their required jackets and ties.
Swetnick also gave the network the names of four people she said knew about the gang rapes. The network found that one was dead, another denied knowing a Julie Swetnick, and the other two never responded to NBC’s inquiries. The next day, even Cynthia Alksne said that Swetnick was not credible and should go away.29
Despite Swetnick’s obvious credibility problems, many in the media continued to air her accusation. Senate Democrats sent a letter to the FBI and White House stating that Swetnick’s allegations should be investigated thoroughly along with Ford’s and Ramirez’s.30
As if Swetnick’s interview was not damaging enough, Avenatti’s other “witness” turned out to be a hoax. He had previously claimed to have additional witnesses of the conduct described by Swetnick, and tweeted a redacted affidavit from one on Tuesday, October 2, just in time to bolster Swetnick’s flagging credibility.31 In the affidavit, the witness stated that she had known Kavanaugh since 1980 and had attended at least twenty house parties with him, as well as Beach Week. She alleged that he would “ ‘spike’ the ‘punch’ at house parties I attended with Quaaludes and/or grain alcohol” to reduce girls’ resistance to sexual advances. She also said that, while drunk, Kavanaugh would be “overly aggressive and verbally abusive toward girls.” While Avenatti refused to give this witness’s name to the Senate Judiciary Committee, he had passed it on to NBC two days earlier. The network