NBC KNEW Avenatti was lying on the day BEFORE Kav Confirmation Hearing.

More On Avenatti: Krakatoa also did a post on Avenatti, but it's still worth reading, because he emphasizes parts I didn't, like how Avenatti hemmed and hawed and began changing his story when asked about the woman he claimed "corroborated" Swetnick's claims:

This is journalistic malpractice. It is defamation by omission. I don't know if there is any sort of legal remedy for such behavior, but there damn well ought to be.

When attempting to get independent verification (NBC's claim -- I would guess instead of verification they were looking for even more salacious details) of Swetnick's serial gang rape claims from a corroborating witness, that witness directly contradicted and refuted the claims Avenatti submitted in her name.

NBC then asked Avenatti to clarify. He hemmed. He hawed. He got upset they would check his work. And then a really curious thing happened.

Pressed again, Avenatti wrote: "I have no idea what you are talking about. I have a signed declaration that states otherwise together with multiple audio recordings where she stated exactly what is in the declaration. There were also multiple witnesses to our discussions." Followed by: "I just confirmed with her yet again that everything in the declaration is true and correct. She must have been confused by your question."

The same woman then sent NBC a "formally-worded" text about five minutes later stating, "Please understand that everything in the declaration is true and you should not contact me anymore regarding this issue."

But when NBC called her, she again refuted the claims in the sworn statement, finally telling NBC in a text on Oct 5 that she will no longer be talking with Avenatti and stating, "I do not like that he twisted my words."

One wonders several things, only one of which is rhetorical:

Who sent the "formally worded" text? And if indeed it was from her, what duress was she under to send it, only to later refute it completely?

Why did NBC sit on evidence that would have destroyed Swetnick's claim on the eve of the vote, and potentially done much to quell the tensions they and their fellow travelers had done so much to ratchet up?

NBC is working hard to backtrack from their reporting. I would hope there is some serious regulatory or civil pressure that can be applied to their clearly malevolent intentions in failing to report exculpatory evidence.

posted by krakatoa at 07:10 PM

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