As they race to distance themselves from Michael Avenatti, who was arrested this week and charged with trying to extort millions of dollars from Nike, it's worth taking a moment to remember that during the the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation fight, leading Democrats peddled absurd attacks from the disgraced lawyer as "serious" and "credible."

Among the many far-fetched claims made against Kavanaugh last fall in the attempt to tear down his nomination, few were as immediately absurd as the accusation pushed by Avenatti that client Julie Swetnick witnessed a teenage Kavanaugh orchestrate gang rapes.

Yet Democrats, in full character assassination mode, treated the accusation as credible.

During Kavanaugh's second confirmation hearing, Democrats raised the Swetnick accusation that Avenatti had been pushing.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, brought up Swetnick's accusations multiple times, even quoting her: "She recounted seeing Kavanaugh engage, and I quote, 'in abusive and physically aggressive behavior toward girls,' end quote, including attempts to, quote, 'remove or shift girls clothing,' end quote. Not taking, quote, 'no for an answer,' grabbing girls, quote 'without their consent,' end quote, and targeting, quote, 'particular girls so that they could be taken advantage of,' end quote."

Feinstein also asked Kavanaugh about the accusations twice, to which he eventually responded, justifiably, "The Swetnick thing is a joke. That is a farce."

Sen. Pat Leahy, D-Vt., in the same hearing, referred to the "serious allegations made by Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick."

If that weren't enough, days later, on Oct. 1, Democrats released a letter demanding that the FBI "investigate all credible allegations of sexual assault against Judge Brett Kavanaugh." Swetnick was specifically mentioned as one of these "credible" allegations.

In addition to Feinstein and Leahy, the signatories on the letter included three 2020 presidential candidates: Sens. Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, and Amy Klobuchar; as well as Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Dick Durbin, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Mazie Hirono.

So whenever any Democrat acts like they hardly knew Avenatti, remember that they trusted the sleazy lawyer enough to use his client's absurd charges as part of their character assassination campaign against a Supreme Court nominee.