I’ll help. See bolding, done by me.
SUPREME COURT NOMINATION
Confirmation Hearing for Kavanaugh Scheduled; Ad War Picks Up
The Judiciary Committee announced that the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh will begin on September 4th, despite an ongoing dispute over document production. With the hearing date announced, television ad spending on the nomination has picked up, reaching over $4.3 million as of August 20th.
Earlier this month, the Brennan Center launched a new SCOTUS nomination spending hub, tracking all digital ad spending in the Kavanaugh fight. View the latest numbers here.
Politico notes that in the ad war, “conservatives are vastly outspending liberals,” and according to an estimate by NARAL-Pro Choice America, conservative groups have “pledged more than $30 million in total spending on behalf of Kavanaugh.”
The largest spender so far is the Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative group responsible for nearly 60% of total television spending. JCN has already spent nearly $2.6 million on television ads supporting Kavanaugh’s nomination and has said it will spend “as much as $10 million” on ads. JCN previously spent $17 million to block Merrick Garland’s nomination and support the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch. And JCN has worked to leverage its ads, targeting vulnerable senators up for reelection in its ads and, according to Politico, saying “it will pull its ads if those senators announce support for Kavanaugh.”
The next largest spenders are Demand Justice Initiative, which has spent just over $540,000 on ads opposing Kavanaugh, and the National Rifle Association, which has spent over $533,000 supporting Kavanaugh.
Let’s repeat one of those key sentences:
And JCN has worked to leverage its ads, targeting vulnerable senators up for reelection in its ads and, according to Politico, saying “it will pull its ads if those senators announce support for Kavanaugh.”
That is blackmail. And that is a clear declaration of Judicial Crises Network’s object — to buy senators.