Consider this penance from NBC for running Swetnick’s sketchy, unverified allegation in the first place. Earlier today Chairman Grassley referred Michael Avenatti and Julie Swetnick to the DOJ and the FBI for investigation. Now, just hours later, NBC News is highlighting a pattern of inconsistencies from the woman Avenatti provided as a 2nd witness to back up some of Swetnick’s claims:

In the second statement, the unidentified woman said she witnessed Kavanaugh “spike” the punch at high school parties in order to sexually take advantage of girls. But less than 48 hours before Avenatti released her sworn statement on Twitter, the same woman told NBC News a different story. Referring to Kavanaugh spiking the punch, “I didn’t ever think it was Brett,” the woman said to reporters in a phone interview arranged by Avenatti on Sept. 30 after repeated requests to speak with other witnesses who might corroborate Swetnick’s claims. As soon as the call began, the woman said she never met Swetnick in high school and never saw her at parties and had only become friends with her when they were both in their 30s. When asked in the phone interview if she ever witnessed Kavanaugh act inappropriately towards girls, the woman replied, “no.”

Are you following this so far? Because we’re just getting started. Since Avenatti had already made clear to NBC that the call and the released statement were from the same woman, NBC called her back to find try to understand the obvious discrepancy between the two. And once again, she contradicted the statement:

But reached by phone independently from Avenatti on Oct. 3, the woman said she only “skimmed” the declaration. After reviewing the statement, she wrote in a text on Oct. 4 to NBC News: “It is incorrect that I saw Brett spike the punch. I didn’t see anyone spike the punch…I was very clear with Michael Avenatti from day one.” When pressed about abusive behavior towards girls, she wrote in a text: “I would not ever allow anyone to be abusive in my presence. Male or female.”

At this point, Avenatti got angry and changed his story, telling NBC that the woman they had spoken to wasn’t the woman who made the statement he released (contradicting what he’d said previously).

NBC questioned Avenatti a second time about the reliability of the statement. He replied that he had, “confirmed with her yet again that everything in the declaration is true.” NBC reports that five minutes later the woman sent a formally worded text to NBC saying, “Please understand that everything in the declaration is true and you should not contact me anymore regarding this issue.” So NBC called her back again. Can you guess what happened next?

But when reached by phone minutes later, the woman again insisted that she never saw Kavanaugh spike punch or act inappropriately toward women. She said she’s “been consistent in what she’s told Michael.” In a subsequent text on Oct. 5, she wrote, “I will definitely talk to you again and no longer Avenatti. I do not like that he twisted my words.”

How many times does the woman have to contradict the official statement released by Avenatti before it’s no longer valid? I think three times is probably enough. She even accused Avenatti of twisting her words. All of this sounds extremely shady. This isn’t an accident or a misunderstanding, he’s just contradicting his own witness. And when he gets called out he even plays a little game with NBC about her identity.