Third Brett Kavanaugh Accuser Was Sued in 2000 for False Allegations of Sexual Misconduct

Julie Swetnick, the third woman to accuse Judge Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, was sued in 2000 for making false accusations of sexual misconduct against co-workers, and for sexual misconduct of her own, though the case was dismissed.

Swetnick issued a statement last Wednesday through her attorney, Michael Avenatti, alleging that Kavanaugh was “present” at gang rapes at high school parties in the early 1980s. She provided no corroborating evidence, and questions immediately arose as to why a string of gang rapes would have been unreported until now, as well as why she would have been going to high school parties during a time when she was in college.

Subsequently, reports emerged that she had been accused of making false accusations of sexual misconduct in the past — and that she herself had been accused of sexually inappropriate behavior in the workplace.

Julie Swetnick, one of the women accusing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, faced allegations of her own misconduct during a short stint at a Portland tech company 18 years ago. … The lawsuit was dismissed shortly after it was filed late in 2000, court documents show. In emails to The Oregonian/OregonLive, Avenatti called the allegations against his client, “Completely bogus.” … In the suit, Webtrends alleged Swetnick claimed to have graduated from Johns Hopkins University but the company said it subsequently learned the school had no record of her attendance. Webtrends said she also “falsely described her work experience” at a prior employer. The suit also alleges Swetnick “engaged in unwelcome, sexually offensive conduct” while at Webtrends and “made false and retaliatory allegations that other co-workers had engaged in inappropriate conduct toward her.”

Swetnick’s alleged conduct took place in June 2000, just three weeks after she started working at WebTrends, the complaint shows. WebTrends conducted an investigation that found both male employees gave similar accounts of Swetnick engaging in “unwelcome sexual innuendo and inappropriate conduct” toward them during a business lunch in front of customers, the complaint said. Swetnick denied the allegations and, WebTrends alleged, “in a transparent effort to divert attention from her own inappropriate behavior … [made] false and retaliatory allegations” of sexual harassment against two other male co-workers. “Based on its investigations, WebTrends determined that Swetnick had engaged in inappropriate conduct, but that no corroborating evidence existed to support Swetnick’s allegations against her coworkers,” the complaint said. After a WebTrends human resources director informed Swetnick that the company was unable to corroborate the sexual harassment allegations she had made, she “remarkably” walked back the allegations, according to the complaint.

Politico also reported last Wednesday that Swetnick’s former boyfriend had filed a restraining order against her in 2001, and that he told the publication: “”She’s not credible at all. … Not at all.”

Avenatti called Politico’s report “attacking a sexual assault victim.”

Avenatti is also representing porn star Stormy Daniels against President Donald Trump and preparing his own 2020 presidential run, and has predicted that Trump will not finish his first term.

Though Swetnick’s allegations were greeted with some skepticism, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) cited them during last Thursday’s hearing at the Senate Judiciary Committee with Kavanagh and Christine Blasey Ford, who says he groped her in high school.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.