Senate committee makes criminal referral on man making false allegation against Kavanaugh

Daily Wire:

The Senate Judiciary Committee has referred potentially false allegations of misconduct by Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to federal law enforcement officials for criminal investigation after the accuser recanted their story.

"In a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Chris Wray, Chairman Chuck Grassley sought a criminal referral of the actions by a named individual who provided Congress with the information, diverting Committee resources from an ongoing investigation," The Senate Judiciary Committee said in a statement.

"Committee investigators have actively pursued a number of tips the committee has received regarding the nomination of Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, though the committee has not been able to substantiate any allegations of wrongdoing by Kavanaugh," the statement continued. "One tip was referred to the committee by staff for Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI). While Whitehouse referred the accuser to a reporter, the committee took the claim seriously and questioned Judge Kavanaugh about the allegations under penalty of felony."

"Judge Kavanaugh denied any misconduct," the statement said. "After the transcripts of that interview became public, the individual recanted the claims on a social media post."
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I suspect that this might have a chilling effect on those making false claims against Kavanaugh during this week's FBI investigation.   Questions have also been raised about the allegations Avinatti's client has made in this case and in the past.  Avinnatti has questioned the relevance of issues about her past conduct.  It is possible that those issues might be used to challenge her credibility in this allegation.  However, it is not clear if the FBI is taking her allegations seriously.