A Third Kavanaugh Accuser Comes Forward, Alleges He Was 'Present' at 'Gang Rape'

On Wednesday, Julie Swetnick became the third person to publicly come forward and accuse Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault, saying she had witnessed Kavanaugh engaging in behavior similar to the kind that California professor Christine Blasey Ford has accused him of.

In her declaration, which was released via Twitter by lawyer Michael Avenatti, Swetnick—who states she has long worked with a number of federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, and currently holds an active clearance with the Treasury Department—claims she witnessed Kavanaugh “drink excessively, and engage in highly inappropriate conduct, including being overly aggressive with girls, and not taking ‘No’ for an answer,” while attending house parties with him during the early 1980s. She does not accuse Kavanaugh of directly assaulting her.

Swetnick also states that she witnessed Kavanaugh “attempting to remove or shift girls’ clothing to expose private body parts”—a claim that echoes one made by Kavanaugh’s first accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, who stated Kavanaugh forced her down while attempting to remove her clothes when the pair were in high school.

Most importantly, Swetnick claims she was herself gang raped in “approximately 1982” with both Kavanaugh and Judge “present.” Swetnick says she told two friends immediately after the incident, and believes she was “drugged using quaaludes or something similar,” which prevented her from consenting to the sex.

Swetnick also states that she witnessed Kavanaugh’s drunk and aggressive behavior during “Beach Week” in Ocean City, MD. In pages released by Senate Republicans from Kavanaugh’s high school calendar—meant to suggest his innocence against Ford’s allegation—“BEACH WEEK” is clearly marked from June 5-12, 1982.

The release of Swetnick’s statement comes less than one week after Kavanaugh’s former Yale classmate Deborah Ramirez also accused him of sexual assault. In a report published in The New Yorker, Ramirez alleges that Kavanaugh pushed his penis into her face while the pair played a drinking game with other classmates in a Yale dorm. Kavanaugh has denied both Ford’s and Ramirez’s allegations.

Kavanaugh and Ford will both testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. It’s so far unclear whether Swetnick will also testify about her experiences, but an adviser for Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley told the Washington Post that the committee’s lawyers were in the process of reviewing the allegation.

We’ve reached out to both the White House and Mark Judge’s attorney for comment, and will update with any response we receive.

Update, 12:35 PM ET: Kavanaugh has released a statement denying Swetnick’s allegations.