ProPublica's appeal for dirt on Brett Kavanaugh's baseball outings called 'desperate' and 'hilarious'

ProPublica has urged readers to share photos of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh at baseball games. (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

ProPublica is being mocked for soliciting readers to help figure out who attended Washington Nationals games with Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, where the judge sits and even if he really loves the national pastime.

Last month, the Washington Post was widely mocked for a report that Kavanaugh racked up credit card debt on Nationals baseball tickets -- even though he paid off the bill. The report vilified the common practice of one individual laying out the funds needed to secure baseball tickets for a group of friends who want to be seated next to each other.

Now, ProPublica has taken things to a new level with a headline, “Did You Go to a Washington Nationals Game With Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh?” The bizarre post has the subhead, “Trump’s pick is a baseball fan who racked up considerable debt buying season tickets. Help us figure out who went with the nominated judge.”

ProPublica wrote that it is “important to figure out as much as we can about a nominee’s background before he is confirmed” and is turning to its readers for help.

“We’re not sure what we’ll find. But we do know that people take a lot of pictures at baseball games,” ProPublica’s Adriana Tobin and Justin Elliott wrote. “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?”

NewsBusters Managing Editor Curtis Houck told Fox News that ProPublica’s piece “should go in the dictionary under what a ‘fishing expedition’ looks like.”

“What is ProPublica thinking they'll find? That Kavanaugh made too much of a mess in eating peanuts? Forgetting to recycle beer bottles? Taking too long to go through metal detectors? This is so desperate."

— NewsBusters managing editor Curtis Houck

“What is ProPublica thinking they'll find? That Kavanaugh made too much of a mess in eating peanuts? Forgetting to recycle beer bottles? Taking too long to go through metal detectors? This is so desperate and showing this to someone who's not particularly plugged into the news cycle will find this a little ridiculous,” Houck said.

Conservative strategist Chris Barron told Fox News that the baseball ticket storyline is “possibly the dumbest smear campaign of all time.”

“If you want to know why Kavanaugh should be confirmed by 100 to 0 look no further than this,” Barron said when asked about the ProPublica piece.

ProPublica claimed that "figuring out who Kavanaugh brought to games could be relevant to his confirmation” because it would help determine whether he simply loves baseball or did not fully disclose the source of the funds used to pay for the tickets.

Conservative columnist Daniella Greenbaum told Fox News that people are entitled to love Kavanaugh, hate him or anything in-between, but feels the narrative surrounding his baseball tickets “is getting a bit absurd.”

“Americans like baseball. That an exploration of who he enjoyed baseball games with passes for investigative journalism is hilarious - but also so disappointing."

— Conservative columnist Daniella Greenbaum

“Americans like baseball. That an exploration of who he enjoyed baseball games with passes for investigative journalism is hilarious -- but also so disappointing. People who oppose him should ground their opposition in ideas. They should base their objections in his writings, his opinions, his politics,” Greenbaum told Fox News.

Brit Hume captioned the article, “This apparently is not a joke. Good grief,” and it appears many share his sentiment. Talk radio host Tony Bruno added, “It would appear to anyone with an IQ above 7 that you folks might be beyond help!”

ProPublica went on to explain what it already knows, including that Kavanaugh sometimes wears blue striped polo shirts, sometimes sits above first base and might not always sit in the exact same seat.

ProPublica urged readers to email with any clues regarding where Kavanaugh sat, how many seats he bought and which friends attended games with him. The site even features a poll that readers can fill out, asking questions such as “Do you remember seeing Brett Kavanaugh at a baseball game?”

ProPublica Director of Marketing Cynthia Gordy Giwa provided the following statement when reached by Fox News: “We published this callout because we have been told there may be some news to be found here.”