White House officials are scrambling to answer more than 1,200 Democratic inquiries about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and when they respond Wednesday, one mystery may be solved: the names of friends for whom he bought baseball tickets.
Although it wasn’t addressed during 20 hours of public questioning by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., peppered Kavanaugh with inquires about the procurement of baseball tickets in written questions submitted Monday.
The White House has until 6 p.m. Wednesday to respond to senators’ questions, many of which are repetitive inquiries into his judicial views, but some of which are surprising, such as Whitehouse asking if Kavanaugh “ever sought treatment for a gambling addiction.”
Kavanaugh’s financial disclosures indicate that in 2016, his debts may have exceeded the value of bank accounts and reportable investments. White House spokesman Raj Shah in July attributed this to the judge buying baseball tickets before being repaid by friends, and no contradictory evidence emerged.
On Tuesday evening, Shah publicly denied that Kavanaugh, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, received treatment for a gambling addiction, after reports on Whitehouse’s questionnaire. Shah told the New York Daily News the answer was “a categorical no.”
“Sheldon Whitehouse’s accusation was so incendiary and so baseless that we felt the need to respond,” Shah told the Washington Examiner. “The White House believes it’s a cheap shot and the answer is no.”
Shah would not name Kavanaugh’s fellow baseball enthusiasts, and the public may not immediately know the White House’s response to questions, which are not intended for publication, though committee members may release answers.
Whitehouse’s questions about the baseball tickets include a request for the judge to “[p]lease identify the individuals for whom you purchased baseball tickets.”
“For each individual listed in the previous question, what financial arrangement, if any, was agreed to with respect to your purchase and their reimbursement of the cost of the baseball tickets?” Whitehouse asked.
“Did you purchase any baseball tickets for friends in lieu of paying them back for personal debts? If yes, please specify the source and amount of each debt,” he also asked.
Although no senator asked Kavanaugh about the baseball tickets during public hearings, it’s possible someone did ask Kavanaugh about the matter during a “confidential” committee hearing on Thursday evening.
Whitehouse spokesman Caleb Gibson said he could not reveal what the senator asked Kavanaugh during the closed-door committee session, or say whether he will publicly release the judge’s answers.
The senator’s question about gambling addiction, and other questions relating to a possible personal history of gambling, were premised on a 2001 email to friends in which Kavanaugh apologized for “growing aggressive after blowing still another game of dice (don’t recall)” and urging “everyone to be very, very vigilant w/r/t confidentiality on all issues and all fronts, including with spouses.”
Update, 9 p.m.:
The Senate Judiciary Committee published Kavanaugh’s responses Wednesday evening. The judge did not identify people for whom he purchased baseball tickets, describing them only as “old friends.” He also did not specify the cost of the tickets, but denied malfeasance in buying what he said were four season tickets each year from 2005 to 2017.
“As is typical with baseball season tickets, I had a group of old friends who would split games with me,” he wrote. “We would usually divide the tickets in a ‘ticket draft’ at my house. Everyone in the group paid me for their tickets based on the cost of the tickets, to the dollar. No one overpaid or underpaid me for tickets. No loans were given in either direction.”
