Today Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., quizzed Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court, about money in politics—and in particular about the Roberts Court’s moves to dramatically weaken rules governing campaign donations and disclosure.
Whitehouse asked Gorsuch about the millions of dollars in secret money going to groups that have advocated for Gorsuch’s confirmation and that opposed Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland, who was never given a hearing by Senate Republicans when he was nominated for the same seat last year.
Gorsuch, whose record has given little hope to supporters of strong campaign finance rules, told Whitehouse that he doesn’t know why dark money groups like the Judicial Confirmation Network would spend millions of dollars to oppose Garland and then to support his own nomination.
“You’d have to ask them,” he said.
Whitehouse, pointing to the absurdity of current campaign finance rules that have been radically altered by recent Supreme Court decisions, responded: “I can’t, because I don’t know who they are. It’s just a front group.”
