Published in The Daily Beast
Senate Democrats want JCN to release a wide range of information about its donors, and specifically ask about a $17.9 million donor who provided nearly all of the group’s funding in 2017.
In the letter, the Democrats ask for the names of every JCN donor who gave more than $10,000 and the total number of donors since 2017. They’re also seeking the number of small donations of less than $100 that the group has received, as well as what percentage of the dark money group’s funding comes from corporations.
“The American public deserves to know who is funding these attacks, and whether the same individuals are financing litigation before the Court that will ultimately be decided by the Justices and judges they helped to confirm,” the letter reads.
Along with Schumer and Booker, the letter’s other signatories include Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), Bob Menendez (NJ), Mazie Hirono (HI), Richard Blumenthal (CT), Jack Reed (RI), and Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (IL).
While Democrats are tying the letter to JCN’s push for a “list” supposedly held by Biden and other 2020 Democrats, it’s not clear the list that JCN wants actually exists.
The JCN ad campaign was premised on the idea that 2020 Democrats have a secret list of judicial nominees. That’s apparently a reference to “Building the Bench,” a progressive project led by liberal judicial group Alliance for Justice to find potential Democratic nominees.
But Nan Aron, the founder of Alliance for Justice, says the “list” that JCN ads are pressing Biden for doesn’t exist—at least not in a way that’s held by candidates. Instead, Aron told The Daily Beast that AFJ is evaluating potential judicial nominees for a future Democratic president.