California Sen. Dianne Feinstein charged Monday that Judge Neil Gorsuch’s Supreme Court bid is being aided by a “dark money” campaign.
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s ranking Democrat complained about a $10 million campaign boosting Gorsuch and $7 million spent similarly to oppose Judge Merrick Garland, President Obama’s nominee. Feinstein said she thought the campaign put the Republican Senate majority in a “terrible position” and that they should consider the impact of the campaign.
The $10 million campaign Feinstein referenced is being led by the Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative legal group, and includes many right-leaning partner groups such as America Rising Squared and Tea Party Patriots. Feinstein claimed the National Rifle Association had contributed $1 million to the group’s effort.
Democrats sought to hammer Gorsuch about the “dark money” campaign during last week’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on his Supreme Court nomination. Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse pressed the judge on the issue repeatedly, and Gorsuch indicated he did not know much about the effort, and said that he did not want to discuss the topic because it involved politics.
Asked about Democrats’ hammering on the “dark money” campaign during last week’s hearings, Judicial Crisis Network chief counsel Carrie Severino told the Washington Examiner she thought it put Gorsuch in an unfair position because as a judge he could not point out similar examples of donations to Democratic senators raising such concerns.
Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley previously set a committee vote for April 3. At Monday’s meeting, the minority sought to delay Gorsuch’s nomination to next week as expected. Democrats have signaled opposition to Gorsuch’s nomination, but it remains unclear whether Democratic Senators will filibuster the judge’s high court bid. Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, the Democrats’ former Judiciary Committee chairman, expressed his intention not to filibuster Gorsuch’s bid.
