What will the Kavanaugh debt investigation reveal?
Brett Kavanaugh’s debt amounted to $ 60,000 to $ 200,000. Shortly before his confirmation, he disappeared. Sheldon Whitehouse would like to know why.
At Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings in 2018, public attention was heavily focused on Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony regarding her alleged sexual assault when Blasey Ford, then 15, and Kavanaugh, 17, were in high school. History has divided the country, surfacing during the #MeToo movement while offending conservative Americans who have championed group sexual assault as completely normal teenage fun. Not wanting to wait, Senate Republicans got their hands on their mouths in further protest by invoking the fence, allowing them to push a titled Kavanaugh into a Supreme Court that sits atop a country where significant numbers of people fail. did not want it. However, in the background, others questions remain, like “What happened to Brett Kavanaugh’s debt, anyway?”
This is a compelling question, and it deserves to be answered.
This is why Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), former prosecutor on the Senate Judiciary Committee, recently request new Attorney General Merrick Garland at examine how well the FBI controlled Kavanaugh in 2018. Due to the level of detail surrounding the Kavanaugh confirmation process and at the request of Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), President Trump ordered an additional one-week survey, but only in the multiple accusations of sexual misconduct. Kavanaugh’s debt was not part of the investigation, and it’s not hard to see why.
According to a 2018 Washington post story, Kavanaugh’s debt totaled between $ 60,000 and $ 200,000 divided between three credit cards and a loan from his retirement account. A White House review claimed Kavanaugh racked up debt by purchasing Washington Nationals season tickets and playoff seats for himself and a few friends, as well as home improvements.
And then… poof! Kavanaugh’s debt is gone, although he doesn’t seem to have the assets or the means to pay them off. Suddenly, he had no liabilities except for his mortgage of $ 815,000, and he did not disclose any outside income, windfall or financial gifts.
In addition, there are indications that Kavanaugh original background check has been not too diligent. Neither Kavanaugh himself nor Blasey Ford were interviewed, and those who allegedly spoke found no one in the FBI willing to listen. No one seemed to be in charge of following advice or gathering evidence. It’s almost as if Kavanaugh’s vote on the court is so important that no one or nothing would be allowed to stop its confirmation. (Even the retirement of Judge Anthony Kennedy, who opened the door for Kavanaugh, seemed strangely in a hurry.)
Large debt, especially if it is past due, can cost a public servant their security clearance or prevent an applicant from obtaining one. The cause of the debt is important because it can testify to the reliability, responsibility and judgment of the plaintiff. In addition, over-indebted people may be vulnerable to blackmail or be more easily corrupted by offering financial gifts. Overdue debt as little as $ 3,500 may trigger a federal investigation in those who hold a security clearance.
While judges may not need high-level security clearances to sit on the bench, having your debt covered just before Supreme Court confirmation is extraordinarily bad at best. We deserve to know if Brett Kavanaugh is indebted to anyone other than the American people.
Related: Judges matter. Decide responsibly.