New Client Has Baggage

Interesting developments in the bizarre case of Julie Swetnick. This is the woman who claims she went to more than one party at which young men used alcohol (something you drink voluntarily) or drugs in order to get sexual access. She claims she was raped at such a party, and she says she saw men lining up to rape women, although she chose not to inform the police at the time.

She would have the Senate Judiciary Committee kill Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination based on the fact that he was “present” at these parties. She doesn’t say he participated in sexual abuse. Just that he was present. So he was somewhere on the premises when other people did bad things.

She doesn’t explain why she went to more than one such party. Most people wouldn’t make a habit of going to parties where rape was a likely outcome. But I digress.

Her ex-boyfriend, a Democrat named Richard Vinneccy, says he had to get a restraining order against Swetnick. He claims she threatened his child, who was a baby at the time. He says she is not trustworthy. Again, this is a Democrat talking.

Sure, he’s an ex-boyfriend, and I have criticized the credibility of ex-girlfriends. But let’s be honest. Men handle rejection better. Generally, we’re not the ones who vandalize our ex’s cars and call their offices 500 times a day. For the most part, men move on. We don’t have biological clocks, so it’s not that bad if we get dumped in our thirties or forties, and we don’t see girlfriends as salvation from poverty or retirement plans.

It appears that Vinneccy moved on. He married another woman and had a baby, and it appears he still needed to get a restraining order to protect him from Swetnick.

Her lawyer, of course, is Michael Avenatti, the obnoxious and aggressive man who represents aging stripper Stormy Daniels in her quest to extort more money from Donald Trump.

What does Avenatti say now? He says he “knows nothing” about a restraining order.

Here’s the thing: I’m a lawyer, too. Unlike journalists, who know little and do even less, I am aware that restraining orders are documented on court websites. As it happens, Ms. Swetnick had her domestic problems in Dade County, Florida, where I used to work. I use that county’s court website all the time, even though I no longer practice, because so many people I know are or were in trouble.

Avenatti knows he can take three minutes and look the restraining order up. He chose not to, so he could say he knew nothing about it.

I know about it, and now so does everyone who reads this blog. And we’re not even being paid.

I can’t get a picture of the order online, but I can produce pictures of the docket page and other information. The pictures show that Vinneccy was the one who complained and Swetnick was the respondent. It also shows that all this took place in family court, under the heading of DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.

It’s not possible to get complete images of the documents in the case. Some are not in the system, and some are partial. Nonetheless, AVENATTI COULD HAVE LOOKED THIS UP IN THREE MINUTES, as I did.

Whatever Swetnick did, it appears it was sufficient to convince a judge he needed to issue an order keeping her away from her ex-boyfriend and a helpless infant.

You’re welcome. Maybe there is a real journalist out there who will send someone to the family courthouse tomorrow and get the documents.