Sheldon Whitehouse throws a dark-money cheap shot at Judge Gorsuch and falls flat

The senator was trying to smear the judge by raising the issue of “dark money.” Nonprofits on both sides have poured cash into the fight for months. But Tuesday morning, Whitehouse pushed Gorsuch to answer for the conduct of a bloc of conservative 501(c)4 groups. It clearly wasn’t fair and it consequently failed.

In one particularly sharp and illuminating back-and-forth, Whitehouse demanded Gorsuch explain the motives of the conservative group, Judicial Crisis Network. “Why’d they spend $17 million to beat Garland and confirm you?” the senator asked. “Ask them,” the judge shot back. “I can’t because I don’t know who they are,” the senator concluded.

Chances are good, liberal partisans will point to that exchange as the mic-drop moment of the confirmation hearing. Regardless of one’s politics, if we’re being honest, it was more of a cheap shot.

Set aside the fact that Gorsuch has been critical of how President Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, was treated. Overlook the hypocritical history of Whitehouse’s coordination with dark money groups like CREDO Action. The senator was clearly shamelessly grandstanding.

Obviously, Gorsuch shouldn’t be held accountable for the actions of others. He’s supposed to be an apolitical judge who steers clear from all political considerations. Clearly, there’s no reason for him to shoulder the blame that Whitehouse is trying to shift.

And so while Whitehouse did his best to characterize the Trump nominee as a sort of dark money ventriloquist dummy, Gorsuch stayed calm. He wasn’t overly indignant nor was he needlessly deferential. Instead, when Whitehouse finished impugning his character, Gorsuch manfully defended his reputation.

“I would also like to clarify,” he said, “nobody speaks for me. I’m a judge. I speak for myself.”

Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.