By the time the Senate voted, the Democrats’ pattern of “three credible accusers” had fallen apart, and the original allegation was as unverifiable as it had been on the day it was made. Some Democrats began to point fingers at Avenatti for messing everything up. One Democrat, Sen. Gary Peters, said Avenatti’s involvement had turned the Kavanaugh confirmation “into a circus atmosphere.”

But it wasn’t just Avenatti. There was, in fact, a pattern in the allegations against Kavanaugh — a pattern of progressively weaker and more desperate-sounding accusations. The Ford allegation came without any contemporaneous evidence to support it. The Ramirez allegation was vague to begin with — the accuser admitted she was drunk and had a poor memory — and fell apart completely for lack of corroboration. And then Avenatti brought the circus.

Together, the allegations created the impression of Democrats grasping at any straw they could find to stop Kavanaugh. First came their faith-based “I believe Dr. Ford” declarations of support for Ford. Then came Ramirez and Swetnick. Successively weaker allegations against Kavanaugh did indeed do damage, but against the accusers more than the accused. And now there is Justice Kavanaugh.