Still incredulous over the process by which President Trump and his gleefully malicious Republican cohorts rammed the confirmation of a Supreme Court justice down the throats of an American populace mostly opposed to the idea, Attorney Michael Avenatti took to Twitter today to question the legal qualifications of the head of the committee that approved Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination and sent it to the Senate floor.
Avenatti, who gained his public profile as a crusading lawyer by exposing the illicit payoffs made by Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels, implicating the president in a criminal campaign finance violation in the process, attacked the credentials of Senator Chuck Grassley, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, for heading up the committee without the benefit of a law degree to guide his decision making.
In fact, every Judiciary Committee Chairman since at least the late 1800’s has had a law degree…except Senator Grassley.
Am I correct that @ChuckGrassley never attended law school? How is it possible that the Senate Judiciary Comm Chairman has no legal experience? No wonder he doesn’t understand issues like “perjury,” FBI investigations, and which clients I have represented over the last 18 yrs.
— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 10, 2018
This was the second tweet today in which Avenatti attacked Grassley after the senator characterized him as “lawyer for the porn world,” a sobriquet that Avenatti strongly rejected with a biting response.
.@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 is still livid over the sham FBI “supplemental background check” that was offered as a cover for the pre-determined confirmation of Kavanaugh despite the multiple allegations of sexual assault and perjury lodged against the nominee, including by one of Avenatti’s own clients, Julie Swetnick.
Swetnick was among the dozens of credible witnesses to disqualifying behavior by Kavanaugh who were prevented from giving sworn testimony to both the committee, due to Senator Grassley’s control of the proceedings, and to the FBI, because of Trump’s refusal to allow the bureau to pursue their claims.
Unfortunately, as much as one would hope that in a Senate lousy with lawyers that they could find a Senator with a legal background would run the Judiciary Committee, there is no law or Senate rule that requires a law degree to serve in any capacity on the committee. In fact, one need not be a certified member of the bar to be a Supreme Court Justice, although many other state and federal judgeships require a J.D. degree.
Avenatti’s tweet rightly points to the fact that the Republican Party has transformed the Judiciary Committee into a kakistocracy, a system of government which is run by the worst, least qualified, or most unscrupulous people.
It is one of the central reasons why it is absolutely imperative that everyone gets out and votes in the midterm elections to eject the Republicans from their majority misrule of Congress and put in a Democratic majority that can restore majority rule in this country.
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