Just about everyone watching this spectacle expected new allegations would drop this week, probably just as the FBI was wrapping up its supplemental investigation. Attorney Michael Avenatti did not disappoint. Yesterday, he tweeted a fresh allegation from a person who claims to be friends with Julie Swetnick and Christine Blasey Ford:

URGENT: Below please find an email just sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee, together with a declaration from another witness who confirms a number of Ms. Swetnick's claims. These women deserve to be heard & interviewed by the FBI before any vote on the nomination. pic.twitter.com/upkoIWfKxz

— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 2, 2018

Avenatti tweeted the same declaration out again this morning:

Yet another accuser has come forward (see sworn stmt below). She is prepared to meet with the FBI today and disclose multiple facts and witnesses. pic.twitter.com/eNsCAau6no

— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 3, 2018

The unnamed witness claims Kavanaugh attended a lot of parties and was often drunk. The most serious allegation in the statement is that he spiked the punch with “Quaaludes and/or grain alcohol.” This seems like an 11th-hour effort to back up Swetnick’s claims after her NBC News interview didn’t go very well. If this new accuser is an old friend of Swetnick, why didn’t she come forward sooner to back up her claims? Why wait until she seems to be floundering to step forward?

Mitch McConnell tweeted this morning about Democratic attempts to delay the process. He didn’t mention Avenatti but maybe he had him in mind, at least partly.

This body and this nation have spent months watching my friends across the aisle grasp at every imaginable excuse to delay this process and damage this nominee. If they had their way, the goalposts on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination would be in another time zone by now.

— Leader McConnell (@LeaderMcConnell) October 3, 2018

Alan Dershowitz suggested this morning that Avenatti might have an “ethical obligation” to withdraw Swetnick’s allegations after her NBC interview in which her story seemed to change.

.@MichaelAvenatti may now have an ethical obligation to withdraw Swetnick’s affidavit, since she contradicted material portions of it in a tv interview.

— Alan Dershowitz (@AlanDersh) October 3, 2018

Avenatti did not take kindly to that and mentioned the new accusation in his response. He also attacked Dershowitz as a “has been.”

Evidently, you are incapable of reading the affidavit word for word. She did not contradict material portions of it. Any inconsistencies were trivial. What about the second declaration that supports it? You should know better than to spew nonsense. #HasBeen

— Michael Avenatti (@MichaelAvenatti) October 3, 2018

This isn’t the first time Avenatti and Dershowitz have crossed swords over this allegation. I get the impression they are none too fond of one another to put it mildly:

.@MichaelAvenatti Repeating ad hominems is no substitute for proving your outrageous accusations of gang rape. https://t.co/6KVohCoPsE

— Alan Dershowitz (@AlanDersh) September 29, 2018

Avenatti is clearly on a political crusade. His pinned tweet is a list of his progressive platform items to support a possible run for office. Taking down Kavanaugh, or helping Democrats do so, would give him a political accomplishment to point to on the campaign trail.

None of that proves Swetnick is lying or that the new accuser is either, but it does suggest a clear ulterior motive for Avenatti’s handling of this. If you want to delay the vote as a means to kill the nomination, this is how you would go about it.