Julie Swetnick, the woman who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and a friend of attending house parties where women — including herself — were sexually assaulted, had a restraining order filed against her years later in Miami by her former boyfriend.

A Miami-Dade County court docket shows a petition for injunction against Swetnick was filed March 1, 2001, by her former boyfriend, Richard Vinneccy, who told POLITICO Wednesday the two had dated for four years before they broke up.


Thirteen days later, the case was dismissed, not long after an affidavit of non-ability to advance fees was filed.

According to Vinneccy, Swetnick threatened him after they broke up and even after he got married to his current wife and had a child.

“Right after I broke up with her, she was threatening my family, threatening my wife and threatening to do harm to my baby at that time,” Vinneccy said in a telephone interview with POLITICO. "I know a lot about her.”

"She’s not credible at all,” he said. “Not at all.”

POLITICO Playbook newsletter Sign up today to receive the #1-rated newsletter in politics Email Sign Up By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time. {{#success}} {{heading}} {{message}} {{heading}} {{message}} More Subscriptions {{message}}

The allegation is likely to raise questions among Republican defenders of Kavanaugh about Swetnick’s credibility after her attorney Michael Avenatti revealed her for the first time on Wednesday.


Reached late Wednesday, Avenatti said he knew nothing of a restraining order and called the line of inquiry irrelevant.

"Complete nonsense. No truth to this at all. Her ex-boyfriend fraudulently used her resume to apply for and obtain jobs and was caught by her," said Avenatti. “Why are you all attacking a sexual assault victim? Would that be appropriate in a court of law?”

Citing the sensitive nature of the case and the explosive politics surrounding it, Vinneccy said he wanted to talk to an attorney first before further discussing the case, which has kept him occupied all day.


“My phone has not stopped since this morning. Everyone is calling,” Vinneccy said.

Vinneccy, 63, is a registered Democrat, according to Miami-Dade County voting records.

Swetnick was identified on Wednesday by Avenatti, who produced a sworn statement asserting that she met Kavanaugh in the 1980-1981 time period and subsequently attended more than 10 house parties where she said Kavanaugh and a close friend of his, Mark Judge, attended.

Swetnick does not accuse Kavanaugh himself of sexually assaulting her in the sworn statement. But she asserts Kavanaugh was present when she was the victim of a “gang rape” by multiple boys at one party.

Vinneccy made clear that he did not believe her story.

“I have a lot of facts, evidence, that what she’s saying is not true at all,” he said. “I would rather speak to my attorney first before saying more."

Avenatti called the reporting “outrageous” and accused the press of “digging into the past” of a woman who stepped forward and is willing to testify under oath.

“I am disgusted by the fact that the press is attacking a sexual assault victim,” Avenatti said.


When asked if the allegation of a restraining order were true, Avenatti said: “I don’t know one way or another,” adding he would research it further.

Avenatti previously said he had vetted the client and in a sworn statement, she said she still held government clearances.

Matt Dixon and Marianne Levine contributed to this report.