Several years ago, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh splashed out on lots of tickets to Washington Nationals games — and now the left-leaning research outlet ProPublic is desperate to know why, and who Kavanaugh went to all those baseball games with.
In a tweet Monday, ProPublic announced what appears to be a classic fishing expedition: an open call for anyone who might have photos of Kavanaugh attending Nats games, so that they can research whom he was with, and why.
Did you attend a Washington Nationals game in 2017?
You might be able to help us. Really. https://t.co/LAhGBWiI6u pic.twitter.com/Y2Xhkx6ir0
— ProPublica (@ProPublica) August 13, 2018
ProPublica’s theory seems to be that Kavanaugh is circumventing campaign finance laws with his “$200,000” baseball ticket purchase, even though Kavanaugh paid the charge almost immediately, and doesn’t appear to have exercised much political influence during the Obama years.
We think it’s important to figure out as much as we can about a nominee’s background before he is confirmed. So we’re turning to you.
Figuring out who Kavanaugh brought to games could be relevant to his confirmation. It would help:
- Understand more about his relationships and any potential questions they might raise for the Supreme Court justice.
- Get a better sense of what went into this unusual amount of debt for a judge in his position.
- Or maybe just affirm that the guy really does love baseball for the judicial inspiration.
We’re not sure what we’ll find. But we do know that people take a lot of pictures at baseball games. Did you see Judge Kavanaugh at a game? Did you attend a game with him? Do you have any photos, and if so, will you send them our way?
It is, of course, entirely possible that Kavanaugh is just a Nationals fan, spent some cash on season tickets, and either took friends to games or had friends pay him back for tickets they used. The Left tried to use his purchase as a line of attack once before, and then discovered that, yes, indeed, he purchased several sets of season tickets — a purchase for which he was eventually (mostly) reimbursed.
The debt also, likely, wasn’t anywhere near “$200,000”; when Kavanaugh reported the debt, he checked a box that indicated debt “between $60K and $200K.” That’s a rather large range, and it’s difficult to assume his debt is on the upper end.
As Hot Air points out, ProPublic goes on to suggest there might be “tax implications” for his purchase, but that’s only if Kavanaugh used the tickets as a way to entertain clients or as in-kind donations. If he merely purchased the baseball tickets for his and his friends’ enjoyment, the tax implications would be . . . nothing.
Although it seems like an age since he was nominated, Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings are due to begin the first week of October, and the only offensive strategy Democrats have is that Kavanaugh has “documents” that haven’t been released. Those, apparently, include his credit card receipts.