Swift Boat PR Firm Helped Tease Ed Whelan’s Bogus Kavanaugh Defense

As Ed Whelan previewed his flop of a bombshell about the sexual assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh over the last week, he was working with a well-known public relations firm to promote his theory, according to Politico.

CRC Public Relations, perhaps best known for their work for the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, an anti-John Kerry grouped formed during the 2004 presidential campaign, helped Whelan tease and promote his theory before he ultimately revealed it on Twitter, Politico reported. Whelan was reportedly struggling to bring attention to his burgeoning theory, so CRC Public Relations helped him devise a strategy in which he teased that he supposedly had information that would exonerate Kavanaugh. The firm also helped arrange a press conference with women defending Kavanaugh after Whelan’s theory was widely mocked, per Politico.

In tweets Thursday night, Whelan promoted a theory that Christine Blasey Ford misidentified Kavanaugh as her alleged attacker, naming another high school classmate who he said could have been the perpetrator. Blasey Ford responded quickly to state she was sure she did not confuse Kavanaugh with the other student Whelan named. After his theory was widely excoriated, Whelan apologized for his “appalling and inexcusable mistake of judgment.”