Politics

Kavanaugh accuser Julie Swetnick alleges he was 'very aggressive,' but her latest interview raises new questions

Key Points
  • Julie Swetnick, the third woman to publicly accuse Supreme Court hopeful Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct from decades earlier, says in a television interview that Kavanaugh was a "very aggressive, very sloppy drunk — very mean drunk."
  • But parts of Swetnick's account in the face-to-face interview appear to deviate from her affidavit.
Source: Michael Avenatti

Julie Swetnick, the third woman to publicly accuse Supreme Court hopeful Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct from decades earlier, said in a television interview Monday that Kavanaugh was a "very aggressive, very sloppy drunk — very mean drunk."

But parts of Swetnick's account in the face-to-face interview also appeared to deviate from her affidavit.

In the interview with NBC News' Kate Snow that aired Monday evening on MSNBC, Swetnick detailed the shocking allegations first revealed in a sworn declaration made public last week by lawyer Michael Avenatti.

Swetnick, 55, had alleged in the declaration that in the early 1980s, she learned of efforts by then-teenage Kavanaugh and others to spike girls' drinks at house parties "so as to cause girls to lose their inhibitions and their ability to say 'no.'"

Kavanaugh has categorically denied all allegations of sexual misconduct against him, and said emphatically in Senate testimony last week, "I've never sexually assaulted anyone." After Swetnick's allegations surfaced, Kavanaugh flatly denied them, saying in a statement that the claims were "ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone."

Kavanaugh: Allegations made by Julie Swetnick are 'ridiculous' and from the 'Twilight Zone'
VIDEO0:4300:43
Kavanaugh: Allegations made by Julie Swetnick are 'ridiculous' and from the 'Twilight Zone'

Asked in the interview if she specifically saw Kavanaugh or his friend Mark Judge spike drinks, she said she saw Kavanaugh "around the punch containers" and had seen him "giving red cups to quite a few girls during that time frame."

But, Swetnick added, "I don't know what he did. But I saw him by them, yes."

Neither a White House representative for Kavanaugh nor an attorney for Kavanaugh immediately responded to CNBC's requests for comment on Swetnick's interview.

Judge, who has been open about his past struggles with alcohol abuse, said in a statement through his lawyer, Barbara Van Gelder, that "the allegations in the Swetnick affidavit are so bizarre that, even while suffering from my addiction, I would remember actions so outlandish." He has since agreed to cooperate with an FBI probe into allegations against Kavanaugh.

Among the most serious claims from the affidavit was that Swetnick had seen Kavanaugh, Judge and others "cause girls to become inebriated and disoriented so they could then be 'gang raped' in a side room or bedroom by a 'train' of numerous boys."

Swetnick said in the written statement that "I have a firm recollection of seeing boys" — including Kavanaugh and Judge — "lined up outside rooms at many of these parties waiting for their 'turn' with a girl inside the room."

Swetnick's lawyer Avenatti said in a tweet on Monday that his client "has offered to take a polygraph test, meet with the FBI and be cross examined by Kavanaugh's lawyers."

Avenatti tweet: My client Julie Swetnick has offered to take a polygraph test, meet with the FBI and be cross examined by Kavanaugh's lawyers. He has refused to do the same. All of these women cannot be lying. And women who are lying do not push to meet with the FBI. Why the coverup by Trump?

In the NBC interview, Swetnick said that boys at these parties were not "lined up" but "huddled by the doors."

She said that she only came to recognize the purpose of these groups when she herself became the victim of an alleged gang rape.

"My body was violated," Swetnick said. "My soul was broken."

Swetnick said she considered coming forward with her allegations after she heard about Christine Blasey Ford, 53, whose allegation of sexual assault against Kavanaugh, also from the early 1980s, was made public in mid-September.

Ford testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday that in the early 1980s, a highly intoxicated Kavanaugh, with participation from Judge, pinned her to a bed and tried to undress her while covering her mouth with his hand.