Julie Swetnick Image by Michael Avenatti/Twitter

Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee released a statement Tuesday that details the sexual preferences of Julie Swetnick, one of the women who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct, the Washington Post reported.

The statement came from Dennis Ketterer, a former Democratic congressional candidate and television meteorologist, who said he and Swetnick briefly dated in 1993. It was sent to the hundreds of journalists on the Judiciary Committee’s press list.

Swetnick claimed that Kavanaugh was at the party in high school where she was a victim of gang rape. He denied the allegations.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis of the crisis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

In a revealing statement, Ketterer said he does not believe Swetnick’s allegations against Kavanaugh “based on my direct experience with Julie,” according to The Daily Beast.

He wrote that Swetnick once told him that she liked group sex with multiple men, which she first tried back in high school, the Post reported. That led to the end of their relationship, which lasted for a “couple of weeks” and didn’t include intercourse.

Ketterer insists that she never mentioned being sexually assaulted in anyway, and Kavanaugh’s name never came up.

Michael Avenatti, Swetnick’s attorney, told The Daily Beast that the letter was “complete garbage,” “bogus” and “highly inappropriate.” He is calling on the FBI to investigate.

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at fisher@forward.com, or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.

This year, we have stood together in strength and sorrow. Our Forward team has worked around the clock to help you find clarity amid the chaos.

If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.

Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism. 

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount