美国国家公共电台 NPR Kavanaugh Nomination Battle Is Fought With Millions In Secret Cash

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RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

So since President Trump¹ nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme² Court back in July, advocacy groups have spent a whole lot of money, nearly $10 million, on these warring TV ads for and against him. Now the attacks - and the spending - are fiercer than ever. Here's NPR's Peter Overby.

PETER OVERBY, BYLINE³: The sharpest attack so far may come from the American Civil Liberties Union, which opposes Kavanaugh. The ACLU rolled out the ad this week with a million-dollar buy in four states.

(SOUNDBITE OF POLITICAL AD)

BILL CLINTON: I did not have sexual relations with that woman.

BILL COSBY: I've never seen anything like this.

BRETT KAVANAUGH: I categorically and unequivocally deny the allegation against me by Dr. Ford⁴.

OVERBY: Then-President Bill Clinton, comedian⁵ and convicted sexual assailant Bill Cosby and Kavanaugh at a Senate hearing last week, where he denied committing sexual assault back in prep school. That ad came out within hours of this one from the conservative Judicial⁶ Crisis Network.

(SOUNDBITE OF POLITICAL AD)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: The liberal mob and their media allies tried to ruin a good man with smears⁷.

KAVANAUGH: You have replaced advice and consent with search and destroy.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Judge Kavanaugh fought back, clearing his name.

OVERBY: At the hearing, Kavanaugh described the allegation against him this way.

(SOUNDBITE OF HEARING)

KAVANAUGH: This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit.

OVERBY: And he said he knew how it was funded.

(SOUNDBITE OF HEARING)

KAVANAUGH: Millions of dollars in money from outside, left-wing opposition⁸ groups.

OVERBY: In fact, there's money flying every which way in the Kavanaugh confirmation⁹ battle. It comes from advocacy groups that can keep their donors¹⁰ secret. The thing that can be traced is TV spending. And the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University law school has been tracking the Kavanaugh TV ads.

The center's Douglas Keith said both sides are focusing their ads on three Democratic senators who are up for re-election next month, Joe Manchin in West Virginia, Joe Donnelly in Indiana and Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota.

DOUGLAS KEITH: A little over $4 million has been spent running ads in just those states.

OVERBY: There's $2 million more being spent in Maine, home of undecided Republican Senator Susan Collins, and about half a million in Alaska, home of another uncommitted Republican, Lisa Murkowski. Keith said these are not high-cost media markets.

KEITH: Especially when you're looking at states like North Dakota and Alaska, this is really an incredible amount of spending.

OVERBY: The Brennan Center data show that when it comes to TV, there are many more conservative groups than liberal ones. And conservatives are spending most of the money.

Peter Overby, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF EPIGRAM'S "THE STRANGERS WE ARE BECOMING")