The playbook…and dark money

Eyeing Supreme Court Vacancy, Left-Wing Dark Money Group Pushes Ketanji Brown Jackson for Top Appeals Court

https://freebeacon.com/courts/eyeing-supreme-court-vacancy-left-wing-dark-money-group-pushes-ketanji-brown-jackson-for-top-appeals-court/

Demand Justice's campaign comes as Democratic senators, led by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.), have increased their attacks on conservative nonprofits that attempt to influence the judicial process. Demand Justice, which is part of the left-wing dark money network managed by the D.C.-based Arabella Advisors, does not disclose its funders.

The advocacy group has made its support for Jackson clear. "If she is picked for the D.C. Circuit, I’d expect her stay there to be rather brief, because I’d expect her to be the lead candidate for a Supreme Court vacancy in the event that Justice Breyer retires," said Demand Justice executive director Brian Fallon. "And we’d be fully supportive of her in both scenarios."

Fallon's group is pushing Biden to appoint Jackson and others as Democrats in the Senate continue their long-standing crusade against Republican dark money judicial groups.  Whitehouse in particular has positioned himself on the frontlines of the attacks in an effort to get them to release a list of their donors. The senator argues that the Supreme Court has been influenced by well-funded conservative groups that groom and elevate candidates for judicial appointments.

Demand Justice itself is part of a massive operation similar to what Whitehouse says drives Republican judicial efforts. It is a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, which is managed by Arabella Advisors, a D.C. consulting firm that oversees one of the largest dark money networks in America. In recent years, Arabella's funds have raked in more than $1.3 billion in anonymous donations that are passed to left-wing nonprofits it houses, as well as to outside groups.