Democratic Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse warned Americans to “look for power in the shadows” regarding the conservative groups backing Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court.
The senator spoke Tuesday at Barrett’s confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill where he used numerous visual aids to detail his concerns about the Federalist Society, Judicial Crisis Network, and other groups backing the nomination of conservative justices. Whitehouse compared the committee hearing to a “puppet theater.”
“If you only look at what is going on in the puppet theater, you are not going to understand the whole story, you are not going to understand the real dynamic of what is going on here,” Whitehouse said. “You are certainly not going to understand forces outside of this room who are pulling strings and pushing sticks and causing the puppet theater to react.”
“My experience around politics is that when you find hypocrisy in the daylight, look for power in the shadows,” the senator said, before pulling out more posters on the Federalist Society, co-chairman and former executive vice president of the Federalist Society Leonard Leo, Judicial Crisis Network and other groups.
Whitehouse proceeded to draw on the posters with a marker, circle names, and draw lines between circles as he spoke. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Democratic Senator Hopes Liberal Dark Money Groups Donate To His Campaign)
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Whitehouse has previously come under fire for his own ties to dark money groups and refused to respond to questions on these ties before a House Judiciary subcommittee in September. The Wall Street Journal editorial board denounced his silence on his ties to dark money groups in early September.
“Mr. Whitehouse’s silence about his own ties to dark-money networks shows his goal isn’t to clean up politics. He wants to silence those who disagree with him,” the WSJ editorial board wrote. “If Mr. Whitehouse holds power in the Senate majority next year, do not expect what Joe Biden says will be a new era of comity and fair play.”
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