Posted on 09/11/2018 6:37:49 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
Staffers for GOP Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), viewed as a key swing vote in the Supreme Court fight, say they are receiving "vulgar" phone calls over Brett Kavanaugh's nomination.
Aides for the moderate senator, on social media and in multiple reports published on Tuesday evening, detailed calls and voicemails Collins's offices have been receiving as the battle over Kavanaugh kicks into high gear ahead of an end-of-the-month Senate vote.
"We've had some very abusive callers. ...We've had some very vulgar calls and sort of harassing the staff," Steve Abbot, Collins's chief of staff, told a Maine TV station.
The TV station obtained voicemails being left at Collins's offices, including one caller who brought up a 2003 email where Kavanaugh suggested cutting a paragraph out of a draft op-ed that characterized Roe v. Wade as widely accepted among legal scholars as settled law.
"Have you seen the emails ...where he talked about Roe v. Wade not being settled law. He [bleeped] lied to you? How [bleeped] naive do you have to be?" the caller in the voicemail says.
Annie Clark, a spokeswoman for Collins, separately gave The New York Times copies of letters and voice mail messages being sent to the senator's offices that included threats.
"Staffers in our 6 Maine offices - and in our D.C. office - are receiving offensive, sometimes vulgar calls - harassing the staff," Clark added in a tweet on Tuesday evening.
One caller, according to the Times, told a 25-year-old female staffer that he hoped she was raped and impregnated.
The frustration being fielded by Collins's staff comes as outside groups are stepping up their pressure on several swing votes, including Collins. How the group of moderates decide to vote on Kavanaugh's nomination will determine if he is ultimately confirmed.
A crowdfunding campaign aimed at getting Collins to vote against Kavanaugh surpassed $1 million on Tuesday.
The campaign, which is being run by Maine People's Alliance and Mainers for Accountable Leadership, has raised more than $1.06 million as of Tuesday evening.
The groups are pledging to donate the money to Collins's future Democratic opponent if she votes for Kavanaugh. Collins isn't up for reelection until 2020.
Collins has dismissed the effort, comparing it outside groups trying to "bribe" her into voting against Kavanaugh.
"I consider this quid pro quo fundraising to be the equivalent of an attempt to bribe me to vote against Judge Kavanaugh," Collins told conservative news outlet Newsmax.
The Wall Street Journal published an editorial on Tuesday warning outside groups that they couldn't "bribe" Collins.
When Clark shared the editorial on Twitter, Brian Fallon, a spokesman for the progressive group Demand Justice, seized on it as evidence that the outside pressure was getting to Collins.
"Collins aide now eagerly tweeting out editorials from the *Wall Street Journal* to rebut Maine groups' remarkable crowdfunding success that clearly has Collins rattled," Fallon said.
Clark responded by sharing a quote from Collins calling the crowdfunding effort "offensive."
What would you do expect from your pro-abortion friends?
Do you remember the Womens March Vulgarity, par excellence!
I live in Maine and these moonbats are running endless TV ads laying into Collins.
One ad features a former woman soldier who says she served in Iraq to protect freedom, and now the freedom of millions of women is threatened by Donald Trump’s pick to the Supreme Court, blah blah blah. What about the freedom of the unborn children?
Another ad features some annoying woman who said she has two daughters, but when she was younger, she was in an abusive relationship and abortion was the only option for her. Guess she never heard of adoption.
Both of these “women” urge viewers to call Collins and tell her to vote no on Kavanaugh.
Collins is a feminist. But IIRC, she did indicate that she would vote to confirm. Her reelection depends on it, because most of her constituents support the President.
In Maine they support Trump? That is surprising.
The left is spending big bucks to defeat a good man. Mostly about abortion, but also because he would rule sensibly, according to law, and not invent laws.
Who’s the dirtbag that donned the hitler mustache — the father of Astroturfing? Smells like him.
And here Did anyone here pick up the phone and call her office in support of Kavanaugh? We’re screwed.
This is going to backfire.
bump
What’s relevant is this: Is it those in favor of Kavanaugh, or those against him, that are making these calls and messages?
She means vulgar calls other than the usual ones she gets?
“Collinss future Democratic opponent”
Kind of hard to tell the difference.
sounds like she is referring to leftists.
I hope that this attempted bribery is referred to federal election oversight.. like who??? FBI LOL
Way to go, Dems. Keepin’ it classy, Alinsky-style.
I hope she does the right thing. Fox News has a report that the Dems might be able to delay the proceedings. Is that possible?
Delay enough to prevent the confirmation? Not that I know of.
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