After Collins Blames Avenatti, He Vows: ‘We Shall Never Forget’

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Without naming him directly, Susan Collins in her horrible Senate speech yesterday seemed to blame Michael Avenatti for her “yes” vote on Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Avenatti represents the third Kavanaugh sexual assault accuser, Julie Swetnick, and it was her allegations of gang rape which Collins said tipped her vote in favor of Kavanaugh.

She said to her Senate colleagues:

“Some of the allegations levied against Judge Kavanaugh illustrate why the presumption of innocence is so important. I am thinking in particular not of the allegations raised by Professor Ford, but of the allegation that when he was a teenager, Judge Kavanaugh drugged multiple girls and used their weakened state to facilitate gang rape.”

Using some kind of twisted logic, Senator Collins wants us to believe that it was the extreme nature of Swetnick’s charges that convinced her that Judge Kavanaugh could not possibly be the sexual predator his critics were making him out to be.

“This outlandish allegation was put forth without any credible supporting evidence and simply parroted public statements of others,” Collins said. “That such an allegation can find its way into the Supreme Court confirmation process is a stark reminder about why the presumption of innocence is so ingrained in our American consciousness.”

Needless to say, Collins statement about his client Swetnick did not go over will with Michael Avenatti. Especially when she said Swetnick’s claims were made “without any credible supporting evidence.”

“Senator Collins is channeling Donald Trump. Entirely disingenuous and shameful. Where was she when Judge Garland could not even get an up or down vote? This is all about her post-office job opportunities on K street. We shall never forget. Not in Nov. Not in 2020. Not ever.”

“Senator Collins should be ashamed of herself for attacking my client and Dr. Ford. How did she make a credibility determination as to my client? How is she qualified to do that without ANY investigation? She did ZERO to determine whether my client and her witnesses were credible.”

Although Michael Avenatti turns off many people with his aggressive, publicity-seeking style, he is a fighter who has won some big court cases. And many Democrats will love the combative tone he took in his tweets yesterday. Especially when he said:

“We shall never forget. Not in Nov. Not in 2020. Not ever.”

The truth is that what Collins said yesterday was the continuation of the Republican war on women sexual assault survivors. Women who come forward to discuss their sexual assault experiences are belittled, shamed, attacked and not believed.

Susan Collins shame is that in her speech yesterday, and in her vote for Kavanaugh today, she has joined the anti-woman chorus in her party. She is supposed to be a champion of women, but she has turned out to be the opposite.

For Senator Collins, and for all other Republicans, Michael Avenatti’s words will ring true far into the distant future: We Shall Never Forget.

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Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.