Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Secretive Political Lobbying Groups Target Battle Over Supreme Court Vacancy

Masood Farivar

   WASHINGTON - Well-funded, secretive political groups are getting into
   the high-stakes battle over filling a U.S. Supreme Court vacancy
   created by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

   Known as "dark money" groups because they aren't required by law to
   disclose the names of their donors, these influential organizations are
   pumping millions of dollars into advertising campaigns to influence
   voter perceptions of what is expected to be one of the most contentious
   confirmation hearings in modern American history.

   Just hours after Ginsburg, the 87-year-old liberal icon, died of cancer
   last Friday, Demand Justice, a progressive dark money group with ties
   to the Democratic Party, said it would spend $10 million to challenge
   President Donald Trump's push to quickly replace Ginsburg with a
   conservative jurist.

   The group's conservative counterpart, Judicial Crisis Network, quickly
   responded by launching a $2.2 million advertising campaign to support
   Trump's push, with the goal of eventually matching or exceeding
   spending by Demand Justice.

   Judicial Crisis Network previously pledged to spend $20 million to help
   confirm Trump's first two Supreme Court justices, Neil Gorsuch and
   Brett Kavanaugh, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a
   political finance watchdog.

   Spokespeople for Judicial Crisis Network and Demand Justice confirmed
   their new spending plans to VOA.

   Trump plans to announce his choice of a conservative female jurist to
   succeed Ginsburg on Saturday, with Amy Coney Barrett, a judge on the
   U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th District, and Barbara Lagoa, a
   federal appeals court judge for the 11th District, among the leading
   contenders.

   Early this week, Trump lined up sufficient Republican support in the
   Senate to confirm his choice before the November 3 election.

.