Brett M. Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, racked up tens of thousands of dollars in debt purchasing baseball tickets during the past ten years.
The Washington Post, citing a review of Kavanaugh’s financial disclosures, reported that at some points during the past decade the debts may have exceeded the amount of cash and investments he had in his financial accounts. Raj Shah, a spokesman for the White House, told The Washington Post that the Supreme Court nominee accrued the debt by purchasing Washington Nationals season tickets and tickets for playoff games for himself and friends. Some of the debt was also due to home improvements, noted the White House spokesman. According to The Washington Post, in 2016 Kavanaugh said he had debt of between $60,000 and $200,000 across three credit cards and a loan. Each of the credit cards had debt of between $15,000 and $50,000. A Thrift Savings Plan loan was anywhere from $15,000 to $50,000, noted TWP.
The debts on the credit cards and the loan were paid off or reduced to a point that it was lower than reporting requirements for 2017, reported TWP. Shah said the debt was reduced by friends reimbursing Kavanaugh for the tickets and said the judge no longer buys season tickets. Shah wouldn’t say who he purchased the tickets for. Kavanaugh declined to comment to TWP. While the financial disclosure form shows the Supreme Court nominee has assets of $15,000 to $65,000, he is not required to add the value of his home. Shah said he has a retirement account with close to $500,000 that also wasn’t required to be disclosed. The paper noted that most justices have assets of more than $1 million listed. “At this time, the Kavanaughs have no debt beyond their home mortgage,” Shah said.“Judge Kavanaugh is a brilliant jurist who has dedicated his life to public service.”