Chuck Grassley Asks Justice Department To Investigate Michael Avenatti, Julie Swetnick

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley is asking the Justice Department to investigate whether Julie Swetnick and her attorney, Michael Avenatti, conspired to provide false statements to Congress in the confirmation process for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Grassley says in a letter that Swetnick and Avenatti made serious allegations that required significant resources to investigate. But Grassley says information from media interviews and elsewhere indicates their statements “likely contained materially false claims.”

Avenatti released a sworn statement where Swetnick says she witnessed Kavanaugh “consistently engage in excessive drinking and inappropriate contact of a sexual nature with women in the early 1980s.” Kavanaugh denied the allegations.

Avenatti tweeted that he welcomes the investigation. He also represents porn actress Stormy Daniels, who claims she had an affair with President Donald Trump.