Posted on 07/12/2018 1:38:56 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Or did someone throw the Washington Post a curveball? The White House released Brett Kavanaugh’s financial records yesterday as part of their disclosures for his eventual confirmation hearing, and the Post may have thought they’d found a diamond in the rough. Kavanaugh ran up some substantial credit-card debt, a potential hanging slider over the partisan plate. That is, until they found out what the charges were.
Can we call this a swing and a miss?
Supreme Court nominee Brett M. Kavanaugh incurred tens of thousands of dollars of credit card debt buying baseball tickets over the past decade and at times reported liabilities that could have exceeded the value of his cash accounts and investment assets, according to a review of Kavanaugh’s financial disclosures and information provided by the White House.
White House spokesman Raj Shah told The Washington Post that Kavanaugh built up the debt by buying Washington Nationals season tickets and tickets for playoff games for himself and a “handful” of friends. Shah said some of the debts were also for home improvements.
In 2016, Kavanaugh reported having between $60,000 and $200,000 in debt accrued over three credit cards and a loan. Each credit card held between $15,000 and $50,000 in debt, and a Thrift Savings Plan loan was between $15,000 and $50,000.
The credit card debts and loan were either paid off or fell below the reporting requirements in 2017, according to the filings, which do not require details on the nature or source of such payments. Shah told The Post that Kavanaugh’s friends reimbursed him for their share of the baseball tickets and that the judge has since stopped purchasing the season tickets.
In other words, Judge Kavanaugh fronted the cost of season tickets for his friends by putting them on his charge cards, and paid it off after his pals kicked in their share. This foul pop-up led to much mirth and merriment on Twitter when the story first appeared, with some questioning whether any Nats fan could be said to have the requisite judgment necessary for a seat on the Supreme Court. The general consensus was that pointing out that Kavanaugh loves baseball, has the trust of his friends, and pays off his debts was not likely to be much of a political liability in a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting.
In fact, as CBS News notes in reviewing the same records, the real story is that Kavanaugh remains a man of relatively modest means — perhaps the most modest on the court he’s joining:
The vetting of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is just beginning, but his public financial disclosures make one thing clear: He’s not as wealthy as many already on the high court. Public disclosure forms for 2017 show that the federal judge would come to the nation’s highest court with only two investments, including a bank account, together worth a maximum of $65,000, along with the balance on a loan of $15,000 or less.
Separate from the disclosure forms, the White House said that between Kavanaugh’s retirement account balance of $400,000 to $500,000, and the equity in his home in Chevy Chase, Maryland, he has about an additional million dollars in wealth. …
A 2017 report from the Center for Public Integrity said that at least six of the nine justices were millionaires, with Justice Stephen Breyer reporting a minimum net worth of $6.15 million in 2016 and Chief Justice John Roberts a minimum reportable net worth of more than $5 million. The report stressed that the disclosures are made in broad ranges, making it hard to know exact figures.
Regarding Kavanaugh being poorer than the others, many of whom had considerable earnings during years of non-government legal work, Shah said, “He’s devoted his life to public service.”
At the very least, it’s clear that Kavanaugh hasn’t cashed in on public service in the manner seen by some in Congress and other parts of the federal government. For a man who has spent his whole life in and around the Beltway, that’s pretty remarkable. And while it won’t get Kavanaugh an intentional walk from Senate Democrats, they might want to consider how Kavanaugh compares to their own records before putting a few pitches under his chin.
has since stopped purchasing the season tickets.
For the NATIONALS? good judgement
"Fact" and "CBS News" do not belong in the same sentence ...
So, now according to the deranged left a public servant who does not enrich himself at the public trough is a bad thing???
If that’s the best they can do he’s in.
As long as those debts were run up at a brothel or hash bar, whats the scandal? Most liberals have substantial credit card debt.
Does he have a Dacha like Bernie does?
I meant “were not run up at...”
I think we should immediately impeach Justice Elena Kagan for hring this irresponsilbe spendthrift to the Harvard Law School.
Yawn. So he uses credit cards and has some debt. Don’t most of us? And, more importantly, note that unlike DOJ/FBI and members of congress, he is paying his own way.
“As long as those debts were run up at a brothel or hash bar, whats the scandal?”
I realise that is a typo (were/weren’t) for a dem that would be resume enhancement.
The dem party is at the point being caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy is no concern.
Their base is that demented.
...Does he have a Dacha like Bernie does...
Actually, The Bern recently added a $600,000+ Lake Champlaign lake home fotr house #3.
Not bad for a guy who didn’t have employment until age 40 and actually never worked a real job outside government.
Socialism has paid off big for him.
It usually does for socialist elites at the top of the government payroll .
He charged things and paid them off.
I thought that’s what CREDIT cards were for?
There are few things in Life more dangerous than a Rich Socialist.
I’m sure the Washington Post is just thinking of the welfare of this Republic by printing this...garbage.
Yeah its a bad thing...anything is a bad thing to the MSM when it comes to conservatives. But if Kavanaugh was found in drag, they wont have a problem with him..
The existence of this article is bad, but what’s worse is that the media and the democrats (sorry for the redundancy) has been digging deep in files looking for personal information about Kavanaugh. They are, even now, using their work-related computer access to view information about him. They are looking at driving records, court records, police records, tax records, hoping they can find something about him. Some of the operatives are interviewing his third grade teachers, asking them if he did anything that can keep him from being confirmed.
Those operatives know they will never be prosecuted for what they are doing.
They publish this knowing that it means nothing. But they do it because they know that other lefties will change it, and turn it into something sinister.
Socialism has paid off big for him.
It usually does for socialist elites at the top of the government payroll .
I imagine his keeping his mouth shut, and not suing the DNC for showing favoritism for Hillary, is at the root of all his recent real estate acquisitions. Wouldn’t surprise me if he got his new properties waaaaay below market value.
Good point.
Very good point...if only a few ball-less Republicans would pick up on it and throw it back in the face of these lying liberals.
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