‘Outright Threats’

‘The Campaign Of Pressure … Has Escalated To Include Vulgar Phone Calls [And] Shipments Of Wire Hangers’

LIBERAL ACTIVIST: “… we are screaming in the streets practically.” (“Interest Groups Turn Up Pressure on Senators Before Kavanaugh Vote,” The New York Times, 9/11/2018)

“The campaign of pressure on Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, to oppose the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has escalated to include vulgar phone calls, shipments of wire hangers sent to her office and a questionable high-dollar fundraising drive against her that her office likens to extortion.” (“Abusive Calls Are The Latest In A Pressure Campaign Against Sen. Collins,” NBC News, 9/11/2018)

• “A group of men and women, some garbed in red robes and white bonnets … demonstrated outside the senator’s home in Bangor over the weekend.” (“Interest Groups Turn Up Pressure on Senators Before Kavanaugh Vote,” The New York Times, 9/11/2018)

“Annie Clark, a spokeswoman for Ms. Collins, provided The New York Times with copies of a letter and multiple voice mail messages addressed to the senator using vulgar language and outright threats. One caller told a 25-year-old female staff member at one of Ms. Collins’s Maine offices that he hoped she would be raped and impregnated.” (“Interest Groups Turn Up Pressure on Senators Before Kavanaugh Vote,” The New York Times, 9/11/2018)

“Some callers have been particularly abusive, according to recordings obtained by NBC News from her office. The profanity-laced voice mails reveal the anger over Kavanaugh's nomination and, potentially at her should she vote to confirm him.” (“Abusive Calls Are The Latest In A Pressure Campaign Against Sen. Collins,” NBC News, 9/11/2018)

• “One caller … left a message saying, in part: ‘If you care at all about women's choice, vote 'no' on Kavanaugh. Don't be a dumb bitch. F*** you also.’ In a second voice mail, the caller calls Collins ‘a feckless, feckless, feckless woman standing there letting Trump and his appointees steal the right to choose what women do with their bodies. And you stood by, 'Oh, I don't know. I'm so naive.' F*** you. F*** you.’ And in a letter sent to her Portland, Maine office, the writer on August 9 says that ‘EVERY waitress who serves you is going to spit in your food, and that's if you're lucky, you f***ing c***! Think of that every meal.’” (“Abusive Calls Are The Latest In A Pressure Campaign Against Sen. Collins,” NBC News, 9/11/2018)

Leftist Activists’ Campaign ‘To Essentially Buy A Senator’s Vote’

“After the undignified theatrics at Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings last week, it was hard to imagine that the opposition to this competent Supreme Court nominee could get any more embarrassing. Well, how about a campaign to trade a Senator’s vote for political donations? A crowdfunding website is trying to strong-arm Senator Susan Collins, the Republican from Maine, by giving more than $1 million to her 2020 opponent—unless she opposes Judge Kavanaugh. Donors are asked to make a financial pledge and then enter their credit-card information.” (Editorial, “You Can’t Bribe Susan Collins,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/11/2018)

• “The fine print makes clear the quid pro quo: ‘Your card will only be charged if Senator Susan Collins votes for Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.’ To avoid the money bomb, all Ms. Collins must do is vote ‘no.’ It isn’t clear this is even legal…. The crowdfunders in this case are offering something of value—withholding funds from her opponent—in return for a Supreme Court confirmation vote.” (Editorial, “You Can’t Bribe Susan Collins,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/11/2018)

• SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): “It’s offensive. It’s of questionable legality. And it is extraordinary to me that people would want to participate in trying to essentially buy a Senator’s vote.” (Editorial, “You Can’t Bribe Susan Collins,” The Wall Street Journal, 9/11/2018)

LAST WEEK: ‘A Nationwide Campaign To Disrupt The Confirmation Process’

Around 70 people were arrested ‘for outbursts and disruptions’ during each of the first 3 days of the Judiciary Committee hearing on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination. (“Protesters Urged To Disrupt Brett Kavanaugh Hearings: ‘These Are Not Normal Times,’” USA Today, 9/05/2018; “Capitol Police Arrest 73 In Kavanaugh Protests Wednesday,” Washington Examiner, 9/05/2018; “69 Protesters Arrested on Day 3 of Kavanaugh Hearing,” Roll Call, 9/06/2018)

“The protesters are part of a nationwide campaign to disrupt the confirmation process…. ‘My goal is for this nomination to not go through,’ said Alison Dreith, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Missouri, who was one of the people arrested Tuesday…. Dreith acknowledged that the numbers are on Kavanaugh’s side but said she and other protesters are hoping to bolster Democrats on the committee …” (“Shout, Arrest, Repeat: Inside The Kavanaugh Hearing Protests,” The Associated Press, 9/05/2018)

• “Soon after the Kavanaugh hearings were scheduled, the Center for Popular Democracy Action worked with other advocacy groups, including the Women’s March, Ultraviolet and NARAL, to urge supporters to flood the capital, Epps-Addison said…. Rachel O’Leary Carmona, chief operating officer of the Women’s March, confirmed that her group had coordinated a plan to disrupt the hearings. That included offering lodging to traveling protestors and ‘jail and bail support,’ if necessary.” (“Protesters Urged To Disrupt Brett Kavanaugh Hearings: ‘These Are Not Normal Times,’” USA Today, 9/05/2018)

• “‘This is well-organized and scripted. This isn't chaos,’ [Winnie] Wong [senior adviser to the Women's March] said outside the hearing rooms.” (“Meet The Protesters Interrupting Brett Kavanaugh's Confirmation Hearing,” CNN, 9/05/2018)

• “Carla from Silver Spring, Maryland, who did not share her last name, donned her red cape and white bonnet on Tuesday and Wednesday to protest Kavanaugh’s nomination. She told CNN that their group was organized by Demand Justice, a liberal advocacy group…. She indicated that later in the day she planned to take off her outfit to go inside the hearing room to protest. ‘I’m hoping I get arrested,’ she said.” (“Meet The Protesters Interrupting Brett Kavanaugh’s Confirmation Hearing,” CNN, 9/05/2018)

DEMAND JUSTICE’S BRIAN FALLON: “The protesters are all heroes.” (Brian Fallon, @brianefallon, Twitter, 9/04/2018)

EARLIER: Radical Liberals Tell Dems, ‘We Need A Person Who Will Physically Put Their Body On The Tracks’

“Liberal groups are mounting a major offensive against President Trump’s Supreme Court pick, hoping to pressure every Democratic senator to vote against whomever the White House nominates to succeed Justice Anthony Kennedy.” (“Left Mounts Heavy Pressure Campaign On Swing Senators Over Supreme Court,” The Hill, 7/01/2018)

“Liberals tell Schumer to scrap decorum and civility in battling Trump” (“Liberals Tell Schumer To Scrap Decorum And Civility In Battling Trump,” The Washington Post, 7/03/2018)

• NY LIBERAL ACTIVIST: “We need a person who will physically put their body on the tracks … This decorum and civility — we don’t have the luxury for that.” (“Liberals Tell Schumer To Scrap Decorum And Civility In Battling Trump,” The Washington Post, 7/03/2018)