Who paid off Brett's debts???

[packman]

“Before President Donald Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, he had a lot of debt. In May 2017, he reported owing between $60,004 and $200,000 on three credit cards and a loan against his retirement account. By the time Trump nominated him to the high court in July 2018, those debts had vanished. Overall, his reported income and assets didn’t seem sufficient to pay off all that debt while maintaining his upper-class lifestyle: an expensive house in an exclusive suburban neighborhood, two kids in a $10,500-a-year private school, and a membership in a posh country club reported to charge $92,000 in initiation fees….No other recent Supreme Court nominee has come before the Senate with so many unanswered questions regarding finances.”

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/09/heres-the-truth-about-brett-kavanaughs-finances/

[cilla4progress]

1. Meme

Me!!

[jaxexpat]

2. Confiscate his couch. Could be millions in change there.

[Probatim]

33. He could have returned all the empty beer cans in his garage.

That isn't chump change considering his habits.

[Irish_Dem]

3. We know he is bought and paid for. The question is who owns him?

[Dustlawyer]

64. What was the deal Anthony Kennedy struck with Trump to give him the pick?

[Irish_Dem]

65. This is the deal as I understand it:

Kennedy agrees to resign under two conditions:

1. His former law clerk Kavanaugh is appointed to the SC
2. His son who was with Deutsche Bank and gave Trump a billion dollar loan is somehow protected?

Edit to add:

So you think Trump paid off K's debts as part of the deal?

Except Trump would never turn over a dime so someone else had to fork out the cash.

But K is owned by Trump then?

[Baitball Blogger]

4. And they got Andrew Gillum for $5000. It's all political.

[demmiblue]

5. I'm guessing you didn't read the article you linked to. n/t

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

21. +!

[madaboutharry]

6. I just want to know how someone on a government salary,

which he was as an appellate judge, and even if his wife worked, which she may or may not have, buys a $1,200,000 house. How did they get a loan? And the mortgage, even at a then low interest rate, must have been huge. Plus kids in private school.

No wonder he was drowning in credit card debt. He was in over his head. He had no cash and after paying all his bills he had to charge everything.

His financial recklessness shows at the very least a sense of entitlement and really poor judgment.

[NYC Liberal]

8. Mommy and daddy have a lot of money.

Ed Kavanaugh got a $13 million retirement package.

[madaboutharry]

9. I didn't notice the link.

That is a good explanation. No wonder he is still an immature spoiled brat.

[progressoid]

18. He's a privileged white guy ?

[Hotler]

40. Isn't that how organized crime does it? Find somebody up to their eyes in debt

and turn them to do your bidding.

[NYC Liberal]

7. Most likely his rich parents.

[demmiblue]

10. +1

Apparently, no one read the article.

The author makes a good case for that (as opposed to the on-going conspiracy theories).

[NYC Liberal]

16. Yeah, he's slimy enough without needed to make stuff up.

[AllaN01Bear]

12. wonder what happens when this brats rich parents croak and they arnt around to bail him out.

[sarchasm]

14. He'll likely get the ultimate bail out by inheriting his parents assets. nt

[SunSeeker]

43. Yup. And he'll act like he earned it all himself. nt

[Effete Snob]

11. The article is worth reading

“ Yet lots of otherwise smart people who see conspiracy theories as solely a scourge of the right seem to believe it, in part because, as with so many such myths, the Kavanaugh conspiracy theory originated with a few facts. ”

[femmedem]

36. +1

It's discouraging to see that the OP has received so many Recs when the article it links to contradicts the OP's suspicions.

[FakeNoose]

13. The 5th vote is Amy Coney Barrett

Boofer Boy is the 4th vote, not that it matters now.

[TheDemsshouldhireme]

15. You know I'm just a lowly state worker

but I cant even take a free pepsi, so how does a judge get away with this. How is this not reportable income?

[Effete Snob]

41. Maybe... and I'm just spitballing here...

But, just maybe, the Mother Jones article linked in the OP actually explains what happened.

The person who posted the link didn't read the article either.

I would strongly suggest that if you really want to know the answer to your question that you read the article linked in the OP.

[TheDemsshouldhireme]

60. Maybe...and Im just spitballing here....

thats a lot of gifts from his parents when there is a limit on how much you can give each year before taxes kick in.

[Effete Snob]

61. Yeah, and?

All the Democrats who reviewed the financial disclosures all failed to notice that taxes weren’t paid?

Do you have any evidence suggesting there was a failure to report any taxable transaction?

[questionseverything]

62. I think it's common for rich people to loan their children money

Against their inheritance so they don’t have to pay taxes

[soldierant]

67. The number and type of ways rich people can legally use for tax avoidance

(which is what they call tax evasion when it is legalized) is absolutely emetic. I faileda course in this because I literally could not stomach it. Only course I have ever failed in my life.

And then they tell everyone else to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. Right. If they really believed that, they should be all in favor of a 100% inheritance tax.

[TeamProg]

17. K&R Thanks for posting. n/t

[OMGWTF]

19. Boof is a corporate whore.

[Joinfortmill]

20. So much corruption

[ConstanceCee]

22. Also...

I would like to see some of the tips to the FBI that weren't followed up on. Not all of them, just some.

[TimeToGo]

23. Exactly

If it’s benign, tell us. Maybe he won the lottery. 😎

But, I am, and have been, very suspicious.

[femmedem]

38. It is benign, according to the article the OP links to.

His parents gave him most of the money, and other funds were reimbursements. Mother Jones--not a rightwing rag by any means--says the questions about his finances are an unfounded leftwing conspiracy theory.

[ancianita]

55. I'll go with what RS says, then.

[ancianita]

24. And it's not just the quid pro quo. It's HIS LYING. Lying is the cardinal sin of Law.

Kavanaugh is a fraud who has told seven provable lies.

-- lied about being earning his way to Yale -- he's a legacy;
-- lied about his drinking -- never hurt anyone, yet those who drank with him tell the FBI he drank to the point of hostility, a bar fight with another person, documented by police;
https://www.dailykos.com/…/-Calling-it-his-civic-duty-a-Kav…

-- lied about his text attempts to suppress at least two witnesses --Karen Yarasavage, and Kerry Berchem-- re Ramirez' claims;
-- lied when he testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee, under oath, that the first time he heard of Ramirez' allegation was from the Sept. 23rd New Yorker article. Text messages these two showed the FBI indicate that he in fact personally knew of Ramirez' allegations in advance of that article -- possibly many months in advance.

-- lied about his breaking state legal drinking age laws in high school;
-- lied about Trump "vetting" him;

-- Senator Leahy can prove that he lied about using thousands of Democratic Party documents Kav knew his staffer, Manuel Miranda, stole
-- finally he KNEW Kennedy's and Trump's plan -- Kennedy's son was Trump's banker; he colluded with Trump to get on the nomination list to the exclusion of names Trump promised to use from the Federalist Society list; he knows that the "confirm Kavanaugh" domain name was registered over a year and half ago -- 2017-02-08

[NJCher]

35. that is one impressive

list of lies.

Documented, too.

Flim flam man.

[TheRickles]

46. Excellent list, but I'm not clear on the last one.

Are you saying that Kavanaugh colluded with Kennedy's son to get on Trump's short list? I'm not clear how Kennedy Sr. enters into this, except that he created a vacancy by his unexpected resignation. I don't see how either Kennedy benefitted from Kennedy Sr.'s resignation, unless there were $ payoffs behind the scenes. What was Kennedy's and Trump's plan? Thanks.

[karynnj]

48. The co spiracy theory revolves around Kennedy's son having been in Deusche Bank

The bank was under investigation. The condended quid por quo, which I do not understand, is that Senior stepping down was in exchange for removing any vulnerability for the son.

[TheRickles]

50. That makes sense, in a Mafia-ish (Mafian?) kind of way. Thanks.

[ancianita]

53. Well, I'm not either. I wish I could explain it from memory, but even media couldn't prove any

cause-effect timeline. I'm just guessing a quid pro quo, is all. Sorry.

Here's a rough timeline:
Kavanaugh clerks with Kennedy 1993-1994
"confirm Kavanaugh" domain name registered -- 2017-02-08
Kavanaugh owes debts as of May 2017,
June 27 Kennedy announces his retirement

Trump nominates Brett Kavanaugh July 9, 2018,
Kennedy retires July 31, 2018.
September 27 2018 Christine Blasey Ford Testifies of sexual assault
Kavanaugh confirmation October 6, 2018 50-48

DU at the time was posting snippets of the decision making process, with the real emphasis on providing evidence of Kavanaugh's lies, in order to discredit his denials over Blasey Ford's testimony. We speculated collusion, and as usual, media presented mostly the Blasey Ford drama.

Everyone on DU was pissed off at the speed of Mitch McConnell's "rule" about no nominees in an election year but even four months before the midterms, media was soft on McConnell's brazen double standard. After WaPo's report of some 25 being on the Federalist Society's list, shortly after Kennedy announces his retirement Trump submitted Kavanaugh's name to the Senate.

If there were payoffs or agreements, no one knows. If the FBI had been serious about ferreting any of the debt payments out, we might know. But the nomination review likely didn't happen, if one looks at the Kennedy resignation and Kavanaugh nomination timeline, because McConnell was in a rush to get the confirmation done before the midterms.

In my opinion, regardless of the uninvestigated debt issue, the real issue in Law is lying under oath.

Anyway, I probably have talked all around your question, but I hope you see why.

[TheRickles]

59. Yes, there was a lot going on then. I think the Deutsche Bank investigation was the key.

As long as we're on the subject, any ideas why Kavanaugh's friend Mark Judge was never called to testify about the Blasey Ford assault, even though he was supposedly an eye-witness?

[ancianita]

63. Likely. It's not going to come out, though.

None. You'd think an eye witness would be called. Democrats were probably ignored in their expecting that, probably being told that they were trying to turn a hearing into some kind of trial. It's possible they might not have been able to get him to testify, I don't know.

Kavanaugh's hearings took place over four days. Also, we saw that McConnell was very hurry-up with the confirmation process, and therefore very tight about the number of witnesses, I think; he and Republicans of the Senate just didn't want to hear from the other women who'd made various sexual misconduct claims against him. For all we know, Kavanaugh was probably of a mood not to be denied confirmation, and so deny everything and let the Republicans take care of the rest.

[momta]

57. Yeah.

I think the money is explainable, but the stolen documents is the one that he should be impeached for.

[ancianita]

58. Oh crap! You are so right! Maybe they have the evidentiary timeline of all that. Thanks!

I'm so text-tired today, I completely overlooked that. Again, thank you. There very well could be grounds for impeachment. But not before midterms. The party's already got too much on its plate.

[orangecrush]

25. K$R

[DemUnleashed]

26. Our...

Our failed media should be asking this as many times as Fox News asked about Hillary's emails!!

[Effete Snob]

42. What good does it do if no one reads it?

The article linked in the OP is a really good explanation of what happened.

It answers the question.

But no one reads it.

So, I can't really say that it is the fault of the "failed media" that people want to keep asking questions that have already been answered.

[ancianita]

56. I read it. Any payment of debts, no matter who paid them, still points to legal

financial "disclosures" that stand adjacent to his proclivities for beer drunkenness and precious protestations of innocence in the face of claims of aggressive sexual groping, even assault by multiple women.

At this point, I don't see the point, either, beyond grabbing at impeachment straws.

[Jamesm9164]

27. After reading the comments,

I say does it matter where the money came from. He still bought his way onto the court.

[JoeOtterbein]

28. K n R ! Thanks for posting! nt

[Pepsidog]

29. Conspiracy theory that goes no where. How about all his lies. How about Alito calling

Roe an egregiously wrong decision, did he recently have an epiphany about how wrong Roe was that he didn’t have at his confirmation hearing? And Beer Boy lied about the meaning of “Boff” and “Reanna Club” and other non-sense he wasn’t man enough to admit. I went to Catholic HS the same time as he did and I remember the meanings of those words.

[I_have_a_cat_bite]

30. this is a conspiracy theory

Mother Jones has a couple of articles on it. His sex stuff is bad enough without making things up. We are just as vulnerable to misinformation on twitter.

[Effete Snob]

34. The crazy thing is...

The OP actually links to a Mother Jones article explaining in detail why this is a rabbit hole.

Amazingly, virtually none of the people commenting on the OP appear to have looked at the article.

[groundloop]

31. THIS IS A VERY LONG ARTICLE EXPLAINING THERE'S NOT MUCH FACT BEHIND THOSE ALLEGATIONS.

Yes, I clicked on the article hoping to find out that someone has bought and paid for Kavanaugh. The further I read the more disappointed I became. It looks like this is a very big nothing-burger - invest a bit of time and read the ENTIRE article.

[eppur_se_muova]

32. His parents did. They're filthy rich, and he's not required to report financial help from family.

https://democraticunderground.com/1016321898

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/09/heres-the-truth-about-brett-kavanaughs-finances/

[Vinca]

37. I'm betting Trump donors in one way or the other. The king wanted a win.

[Atticus]

44. Sh-h-h! WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU? He has an "R" after his name, so one of the

oldest "settled laws" applies: "IOKIYAR!"

[JT45242]

47. Amen. Tax fraud, bribery, or both...

I have been screaming this for years. He didn't declare the income,.. that's a lot of tax fraud.

If someone paid it off so he would rule a certain way, it's bribery.

This is why tRump shut down the FBI investigation and background check.

He doesn't need impeached if he is in prison.

[IcyPeas]

49. the Federalist Society?

The most visible impact of Federalist Society has had on American life is through appointments to the Supreme Court.

Every administration has a network that they turn to when they’re looking to identify potential judicial candidates. What’s happened, though, is that on the right, the Federalist Society has a monopoly on that process.

You now have a five-justice majority on the Supreme Court, all of whom are [connected to] the Federalist Society: Chief Justice John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas — who has been called by Federalist Society members the closest thing to a pure Federalist Society judge — and, of course, Trump’s appointments, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

[czarjak]

52. Bushies have ways. Secret Society Trust-Fund-Baby-Benificiaries always get off .

[DET]

54. That Article Sucks

So the author of the linked article says that we know that Kavanaugh’s wealthy parents paid off his debts because - wait for it - Kavanaugh obliquely said so - and he doesn’t have to report it. That’s it. This is what qualifies as investigative journalism nowadays? In the author’s own words…

“In the end, there’s really only one answer to the questions about Kavanaugh’s finances that makes any sense: his longtime sugar daddy was his own daddy. Obviously, no one except the Kavanaugh family knows for sure. But Occam’s Razor tells us that the simplest answer is usually the right one.”

I am really flummoxed why some people on DU are buying this ridiculous speculation at face value.

[npk]

66. I didn't bother reading that right wing drivel in that link.

Fuck that shit.

[Effete Snob]

68. Ah yes, Mother Jones...

Well known purveyor of "right wing drivel".

[npk]

69. That article is straight up right wing talking points

Basically stating that anyone and everyone on the left who has questions about Kavanaughs finances and more specifically how he seemed to make them vanish before he assumed the bench, is propagating conspiracy theories.

Maybe Mother Jones should really rethink the content they seem to happy publishing.