On Saturday, The New York Times published a play-by-play account of the Kavanaugh confirmation process in which Senate aides from both parties tried to blame Michael Avenatti for tipping the scales.
"Avenatti's involvement proved a turning point, according to congressional aides from both parties," reporter Peter Baker tweeted. "It was 'manna from heaven,' says a GOP aide. 'Massively unhelpful,' says a Democrat."
The story according to these aides is that Republicans were considering voting down Kavanaugh after Dr. Christine Blasey Ford gave her riveting account of being sexually assaulted by the justice, but that the allegations that Kavanaugh had also raped passed-out women in college made her less credible.
"The Republican senators got into a lengthy conversation about Mr. Avenatti and how he could not be trusted and concluded that Ms. Swetnick’s claims did not add up," the story reads.
Avenatti pushed back on the story on Twitter Saturday night, saying "this argument is complete nonsense."
Avenatti's tweet linked to another person who asked, "Which Republican senators voted for Kavanaugh that wouldn’t have done so if Avenatti hadn’t gotten involved?"
