Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, used the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh as an opportunity to raise money, sending out a fundraising email during the hearing.
“We should all be concerned about what it would mean for our country if Judge Kavanaugh is confirmed to the Supreme Court,” the email began. “I will be questioning Judge Kavanaugh at length in this week’s Judiciary Committee hearing to shed more light on his views and record — but here’s what we already know.”
The email, titled “Stop Kavanaugh,” goes on to reveal that Booker’s mind is already made up before he has the chance to question Kavanaugh. He writes: “We can only make a difference if everyone steps off the sidelines. Add your name to join me in this fight and oppose Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court.”
He also makes the claim that Kavanaugh “was the one judge on President Trump’s shortlist who poses a direct threat to the integrity of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.”
“This stuff will make us sicker, not healthier,” Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) tweeted in response to the letter. “Sending out fundraising emails DURING A HEARING about opposition to a Supreme Court nominee is not the job of a Senator. It is cynical play-acting for a political base.”
Sasse followed with a second tweet, saying, “The American people see right through this — and the result will not be more serious deliberation,” he writes. “The result will be (yet again) a smaller Senate, and a more tribal electorate.”
Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) also tweeted about the fundraising email.