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dalton99a

(81,442 posts) Thu Nov 28, 2019, 01:22 PM Nov 2019

Activists target conservative legal group over Kavanaugh (AP)

https://hosted.ap.org/article/6e17f0eb84ef4e2dbcc4c956727347cc/activists-target-conservative-legal-group-over-kavanaugh

Nov. 28, 2019 10:37 AM EST
Activists target conservative legal group over Kavanaugh
By MATTHEW DALY
Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A liberal activist group is launching a digital ad campaign targeting the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization that has championed judges appointed by President Donald Trump, such as Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch.

Sponsored by Demand Justice, the ads target a half-dozen prominent firms that sponsored the dinner, such as Kirkland & Ellis, where Kavanaugh served as a partner, as well as Sullivan & Cromwell, WilmerHale and Consovoy McCarthy, where a senior partner was recently confirmed as a federal appellate judge.

Demand Justice says the ads are the beginning of a sustained campaign “to hold accountable” people who help the Federalist Society “rehabilitate a sexual predator and attack the rule of law.”

The ads come as Trump and his allies celebrate his administration's success in getting more than 160 federal judicial nominees confirmed by the Republican-controlled Senate, including 48 appeals court judges. About a quarter of current federal appeals court judges were nominated by Trump.

Senate Majority Mitch McConnell of Kentucky hailed Trump’s record on reshaping courts in an appearance with the Republican president this month. "And Mr. President, we're going to keep on doing it,” he said. “My motto is: Leave no vacancy behind.”

The Senate will begin considering eight more judicial nominees next week, including Sarah Pitlyk, a former Kavanaugh clerk who was deemed unqualified by the American Bar Association. Pitlyk, who has never tried a case, works for an anti-abortion-rights group. Many Democrats opposed her nomination.

Brian Fallon, executive director of Demand Justice, is a former adviser to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and former spokesman for Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.

He said Pitlyk’s nomination and the recent party line confirmation of Steven Menashi, a former White House lawyer named by Trump to a New York-based appeals court, show the importance of the ad campaign.

Many of Trump’s nominees, Menashi among them, have ties to the Federalist Society, which has vetted and recommended dozens of conservative lawyers for Trump’s consideration as judges.

“Trump is larding up the judiciary with people who are loyal to him,” Fallon said.

Democrats unanimously opposed Menashi and Appeals Court Judge Neomi Rao, another former Trump aide who like Menashi had never tried a case before winning a lifetime seat on the appellate court.