Kochs put political muscle into Gorsuch fight

WASHINGTON – The influential Koch network just threw its weight behind President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court.

It launched a digital campaign Tuesday night, urging senators to confirm Judge Neil Gorsuch and plans to mobilize the network’s 3.2 million activists to put pressure on lawmakers.

Concerned Veterans for America, one of four grass-roots groups in the conservative political and policy empire overseen by billionaire Charles Koch, will lead the campaign, which officials say also will include direct mail, phone calls and door-to-door visits.

“Anyone who celebrates freedom should be pleased that President Trump has nominated someone who so deeply respects our Constitution,” said Mark Lucas, Concerned Veterans’ executive director. “Throughout his career, Gorsuch has argued against vague interpretations of statutes which allow federal agencies to remain unaccountable to citizens.”

The Koch network is one of the biggest players in conservative politics and spent more than $42 million on advertising alone in the 2016 election to help Republicans retain their majority in the Senate.

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At the network’s just-completed winter seminar, donors expressed optimism about their ability to advance their free-market agenda in a Republican-controlled Washington, but network officials said they also stand ready to oppose Trump over free trade and immigration. In their first public criticism of Trump since he took office, network leaders over the weekend slammed Trump’s executive order temporarily barring visitors from seven largely Muslim countries.

Concerned Veterans has not disclosed how much it is spending.

Another deep-pocketed conservative group, the Judicial Crisis Network, on Tuesday night launched the first phase of its $10 million campaign to back Gorsuch. The group's ads seek to pressure red-state Democratic senators up for re-election in 2018.

Republicans control 52 of 100 Senate seats, leaving them short of the 60 votes needed to overcome a possible Democratic filibuster to block Gorsuch.

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