Mark Judge Claims He Fears Public Speaking, But ‘Available For Speaking Engagements,’ Publisher’s Site Says

Mark Judge is the high school friend of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh who has been named by Christine Blasey Ford as Kavanaugh’s accomplice in his alleged attempted rape of her, as the Inquisitr reported. On Friday, Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal made an official motion, as CNBC reported, for the Senate Judiciary Committee to subpoena Judge to testify about the incident.

But that motion was voted down on a party-line vote, with all 11 Republican committee members refusing to call Judge to testify. Speaking later, Republicans cited a letter sent by Judge’s lawyer to the committee — seen being displayed by committee Chair Chuck Grassley in the photo above — in which Judge, a recovering alcoholic, claimed that he could not testify due to his depression and anxiety disorders, which have caused him to suffer from a fear of public speaking, according to a BBC account.

Texas GOP Senator John Cornyn condemned Blumenthal’s call for Judge to testify, calling it “cruel” and “reckless,” NBC News reported, due to Judge’s anxiety over speaking in public.

But how afraid of public speaking is Judge, really? According to his own book publisher, not very. The publisher’s web page was found via Google search by several sharp-eyed Twitter users including Ryan Grim, the reporter who broke the story of Ford’s allegations against Kavanaugh, and others.

Can someone please explain what "under penalty of felony" means, and the statute one can be charged with a felony for making a false statement in this manner?

Because here's proof that the substance of the last letter judge sent is a blatant lie:

Charge him. pic.twitter.com/eSeUhfv2Dd

— random facts girl ??????? (@soychicka) September 28, 2018

The publisher, Encounter Books — who issued Judge’s 2004 book Damn Senators: My Grandfather and the Story of Washington’s Only World Series Championship — lists Judge on its site as “available for media and speaking engagements.”

Republican Senator Ted Cruz, in a statement during Friday’s Judiciary Committee meeting, also cited Judge’s supposed fear of public speaking as a reason not to call him before the committee, saying, “The public record indicates Mr. Judge has lived a very troubled life,” according to MSNBC reporter David Gura, on his Twitter feed.

“Mark Judge says (under penalty of felony) that he avoids public speaking engagements due to anxiety, meanwhile his publisher literally lists him as a public speaker,” Grim said on his Twitter. “Maybe instead of a subpoena the Senate can just book him to speak.”

“These old white men like Ted Cruz will say anything. They are now claiming that Mark Judge can’t testify publicly because he suffers from depression, etc.,” wrote attorney Michael Avenatti, who represents another Kavanaugh accuser, Julie Swetnick, on his Twitter account. “This is a complete lie. These misogynists must not know there is something called Google.”

After rejecting Blumenthal’s motion was denied by the Republican-majority vote, Grassley confirmed that there would be a committee vote on Kavanaugh for 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, CNN reported.