The battle of Kavanaugh takes a breath, fueled by political money

The battle of Kavanaugh takes a breath, fueled by political money https://i2.wp.com/www.eresviral.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/La-batalla-de-Kavanaugh-toma-aire-alimentada-por-dinero-político.jpg?fit=222%2C146&ssl=1

The battle of Kavanaugh takes a breath, fueled by political money







As the United States Senate prepares to vote on Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination, political groups are flooding television and social networks with millions of dollars in ads intended to influence public opinion.





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Campaign finance experts told ABC News that while accurate figures may be difficult to calculate, the level of external spending by pocket groups on both sides this year seems unprecedented.



"The balance of the court is at stake," said Brendan Fischer, an analyst at the Campaign Legal Center, a non-partisan, Washington-based group that tracks money in politics.



ABC News examined the figures of public statements of groups that have become creditors of advertising, as well as publicity records mentioning that Kavanaugh filed with the Federal Communications Commission. Those records were archived by television stations of large markets in states represented by senators whose votes were considered fundamental to determine the final destination of Kavanaugh and to boost the voters in those states.



Both registers are spending well in millions of dollars, according to the records. It is impossible to say the total amounts because some of the organizations involved do not have to report their expenses, but from what ABC was able to identify initially, it seems that the expense in favor of Kavanaugh is significantly more than that of the opposition.



Kavanaugh himself criticized the spending campaign directed at his nomination during his most recent testimony, and said he believed that "millions of dollars in money from leftist opposition groups" were behind the effort to sink his judicial offer. "All this two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political coup," Kavanaugh told senators.



A political group formed in February called Demand Justice, headed by former press secretary of the Hillary Clinton campaign, Brian Fallon, said he planned to spend at least $ 5 million to oppose Kavanaugh. The group, which is organized in a way that hides the source of its funding, has focused on spending by moderate Republicans, including Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and Jeff Flake of Arizona.



On Wednesday, Demand Justice released a new digital ad with the image of one of Kavanaugh's accusers, Christine Blasey Ford, sworn in before the Senate Judiciary Committee, with audio from President Trump taunting Ford's testimony.





Melina Mara / Pool / The Washington Post through Getty Images
Christine Blasey Ford is sworn in at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Thursday, September 27, 2018 on Capitol Hill.

Other groups that oppose Kavanaugh, such as Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America, have also contributed money.



ABC discovered that since August, Planned Parenthood spent about $ 110,000 on advertising alone at a local television station in Anchorage, Alaska, and about $ 33,700 at a station in Portland, Maine, according to an analysis of political purchase records. announcements submitted to the Federal Communications Commission.



More recently, Planned Parenthood also announced a six-figure ad purchase that seeks to influence the vote for Senator Dean Heller, R-Nev. While Heller has not been seen as voting against Kavanaugh, the problem could mobilize voters in an extremely close Senate race.



In general, NARAL has spent at least $ 2.5 million on campaigns against Kavanaugh, including $ 1.25 million in television and social media ads, according to a NARAL spokesperson.



NARAL has also joined forces with other liberal groups, including the Popular Defense and MoveOn, to mount a grassroots project against Kavanaugh. The group produced a poster of "KAVA NOPE", the tribute of the illustrator Tracie Ching to the image of "Esperanza" by the ex artist Barep Obama, of the street artist Shepard Fairey.



"Women and allies will not forget this fight, not now, neither in November nor in 2020," the NARAL spokesman told ABC News in a statement. "Senators who claim to be allies of women and survivors can not vote in good conscience to confirm Kavanaugh, we knew that before, and that has become clearer with each passing hour."





Yuri Gripas / Reuters
Activists congregate inside the Hart Senate office building during a protest against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, on Capitol Hill, on October 4, 2018.

Significant spending comes from both sides of the aisle.



The Judicial Crisis Network, nonprofit and conservative, has injected $ 12 million in television and digital ads aimed at key states since the nomination of Kavanaugh, according to JCN Chief Counsel Carrie Severino.



"This has been one of the ugliest confirmation processes our history has seen," Severino told ABC News.



Heritage Action for America has also pledged more than half of its $ 12 million operating budget for Kavanaugh support campaigns, including digital announcements, grassroots meetings, petitions, according to Heritage Action spokesperson Brian Schmitt.



America First Policies, a non-profit organization headed by Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, also launched behind Kavanaugh, posting ads that show the president praising Kavanaugh's qualifications and integrity.



America First Policies has spent at least $ 105,000 on television ads in Indiana and more than $ 153,000 in North Dakota, according to FCC records.



Pro-Trump super PAC, Great America PAC, has also been posting ads in support of Kavanaugh. One of the ads paid for by the group accuses the Democrats of obstruction, showing the Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y, saying, "I will oppose him with everything I have." The announcement accuses the leaders of the Democratic Party of exploiting for political purposes the women who have come forward to accuse Kavanaugh.



Like his opponents, efforts in favor of Kavanaugh have focused attention on key senators, putting pressure on vulnerable Democrats for re-election in the Red States in November, including Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Donnelly of Indiana. Manchin, Heitkamp and Donnelly are three Democrats who crossed the ranks of the party to vote yes for Judge Neil Gorusch when Trump nominated him to the Supreme Court in 2017.



"We believe they are people who want to be independent or who are considered as independent as Senator Schumer, and have a clear choice to make," said Severino.





Win McNamee / AFP / Getty Images
Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee during his confirmation hearing before the Supreme Court in the Dirksen Senate office building on Capitol Hill on September 27, 2018.

Heitkamp and Donnelly have said they plan to vote against Kavanaugh.



The State Government Leadership Fund, a nonprofit political organization led by former Rep. Thomas Reynolds, RN.Y., has spent about $ 800,000 on ads aimed specifically at Collins to support Kavanaugh, according to spokesman David James.



Fischer warns that public records and press releases do not provide a complete picture of spending on the Supreme Court's fight. This is because there are minimum reporting requirements on political spending on Supreme Court nominations, including ad purchase records submitted to the FCC, that are not filed in a manner that is easy for the public to examine.



For example, One Nation, a dark non-profit political organization linked to Republican Party agent Karl Rove, which had a budget of $ 62 million in 2016 and 2017, according to its fiscal record, has pledged to support the candidates judicial conservatives. The group has spent at least $ 93,000 to broadcast ads only at a local station in Portland, Maine, according to the FCC ad purchase records, but no other information is available about its spending.



"Therefore, we do not know where most of the money spent comes from, and we only have limited perspectives on how much is spent," Fischer said.

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