Senator Susan Collins, in thanks for her vote Kavanaugh, was bought six-figure by a group of "black currencies"

A conservative group that has invested more than $ 5 million in a Brett Kavanaugh defense campaign has launched a new purchase this week: thanking Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) for voting in favor of the candidate.

"In the midst of chaos, a leader has distinguished himself," says one of the announcements of the Judicial Crisis Network. "She made the right choice by supporting him. Thank you Susan Collins, for being a reasonable voice in Washington. "

The advertisement ends with a phone number from the Collins office. The group did not reveal the amount of its commercial purchase, but said it would account for more than $ 100,000 for television and digital advertising.

Judicial Crisis Network is a 501 (c) (4) defense organization – a group called "black money" because it is not obliged to disclose the sources of its funding, regardless of the groups or the donors who support them. He spent at least $ 5.3 million on his advertising campaign for Kavanaugh, much of it targeting vulnerable Senate Democrats in the Red States and in transition. Of this amount, at least $ 1.5 million was spent on Kavanaugh's defense after Christine Blasey Ford made public her allegation of sexual assault against her.

A similar Liberal group, Demand Justice, has spent at least $ 700,000 on a planned $ 5 million campaign to defeat Kavanaugh's candidacy.

[Susan Collins calls donations to her future opponent a ‘classic quid pro quo’ to extort her]

Both groups represented the intense emotion and political energy generated by Kavanaugh's nomination and confirmation fight, and both were the subject of heated denunciations of how financial interests obscured the debate.

Collins, who was the subject of a sustained effort by activists worried about the prospect of Kavanaugh's confirmation on the ground, was one of the strongest of those voices. During a 44-minute speech in front of the Senate last week, in which she announced her support for Kavanaugh, sealing her confirmation, she lashed out at the interest groups who spent "a unprecedented amount of money "to oppose him.

On Friday, she did not immediately respond to a request to a spokesperson to find out if she disavowed the use of "black money" in the campaign to support her.

Collins' chances of re-election in 2020 are already intriguing. Her reputation as a moderate has suffered greatly from her support for Kavanaugh, a conservative judge who displayed a level of partisan fury during her hearings that raised questions about her ability to sit on the Supreme Court.

A group of Liberal activists has raised more than $ 3.5 million during the contest for the nomination to give to his potential opponent. And Susan Rice, former ambassador for UN Security Council President Barack Obama, whose family is from Portland, Maine, hinted on Twitter that she might be interested in the seat.

This week, Collins beat the party ranks to vote with the Democrats in an unsuccessful attempt to block a plan presented by the Trump administration for short-term health plans as an alternative to Obamacare.

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