Avenatti blasts Chuck Grassley: ‘Far too stupid’ to lead Judiciary Committee

Attorney Michael Avenatti on Wednesday fired back at Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), calling the senator “far too stupid” for his position as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee after Grassley blasted Avenatti as a “lawyer for the porn world.”

{mosads}Avenatti branded Grassley as “out of touch with reality” and took a swipe at the rest of the committee, saying they were reaching for “their Betamax tapes,” referring to the technology popular in the early 1980s.

“.@ChuckGrassley claimed last night that I have ‘established a reputation as a lawyer for the porn world.’ This shows how ignorant and out of touch with reality he is. Far too stupid to lead such an important cmte,” Avenatti wrote on Twitter. “Meanwhile, he and his colleagues reach for their Betamax tapes.”

.@ChuckGrassley claimed last night that I have “established a reputation as a lawyer for the porn world.” This shows how ignorant and out of touch with reality he is. Far too stupid to lead such an important cmte. Meanwhile, he and his colleagues reach for their Betamax tapes…

— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 10, 2018

Avenatti was responding to comments Grassley made in an interview that aired Tuesday night on Fox News’s “The Story with Martha MacCallum.”

Grassley was asked during the interview whether it was a “turning point” during Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation process when Avenatti released a sworn affidavit from a client, Julie Swetnick, accusing Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct.

“I think with Avenatti’s reputation that he has established as a lawyer for the porn world, that that raised questions about the legitimacy of Swetnick,” Grassley said.

Grassley was referring to Avenatti’s representation of adult-film star Stormy Daniels in her lawsuits against President Trump.

Swetnick was the third woman, following Deborah Ramirez and Christine Blasey Ford, to publicly accuse Kavanaugh of varying degrees of sexual misconduct. Kavanaugh fiercely denied these allegations.

He was ultimately confirmed to the Supreme Court by a 50-48 Senate vote.

Grassley added that “all sexual assault allegations” should be taken seriously and said the “Me Too” movement “has brought to the surface something that we ought to be talking about and be more cognizant of.”

“But when you have that combination, it didn’t bring the credibility that ought to be brought,” he said of Avenatti.

In her sworn affidavit, Swetnick alleged that Kavanaugh was part of a scheme to gang rape girls at house parties while in high school.

Swetnick said Sunday in a statement released by Avenatti that she is “disgusted and appalled by the way that I have been re-victimized over the last 2 weeks after I had the courage to come forward.”

The White House spokeswoman for Kavanaugh’s confirmation team on Tuesday suggested that Avenatti’s revelations inadvertently helped move along the then-nominee’s confirmation process.

“I think it took things to such an absurd point, and that’s when you really saw so many Americans across the country saying OK, enough is enough,” Kerri Kupec told Hill.TV’s “Rising.”