Sullivan tried to hide opposition to Supreme Court nominee, but not in his pitch for donations to fight ‘far-left activist judge’

There was never any real doubt about how Sen. Dan Sullivan would vote on the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who is to become a member of the U.S. Supreme Court.

More than three weeks before her nomination, Sullivan’s nonstop fundraising operation tipped his hand, the day after Justice Breyer announced plans to retire.

“If the last 12 months of the Biden administration has taught us anything, we fully expect the President to nominate a far-left activist judge – not a jurist who will fairly interpret the Constitution,” wrote Mike S. of “Rapid Response Team Sullivan” in January.

“Stop Progressive Judicial Activism,” Team Sullivan said, repeating what would become the battle cry for nearly every Republican in the Senate.

In the weeks that followed, Sullivan didn’t talk about the far-left activist judge he fully expected to oppose. Alaska news organizations didn’t push him for interviews and he had his PR man issue boilerplate denials that he had not made up his mind.

“The senator takes his constitutional duty to provide advice and consent very seriously for every Senate-confirmed position, especially judges and justices who hold lifetime appointments,” Sullivan’s PR man said, quoted Monday in the Juneau Empire. “He is still evaluating Judge Brown Jackson’s judicial philosophy and record.”

But no one should believe that.

On the day that denial appeared, Sullivan’s employees were no doubt already writing the predictable 900-word term paper that his office released after Sullivan voted against Jackson’s confirmation three days later.

Sullivan claims that Brown Jackson is a “judicial activist,” just as he had predicted before he knew she would be nominated.

Sullivan was conveniently on the phone and waved off the Alaska Public Media reporter who sought to interview him after the vote.

He didn’t want to talk about it.

Instead, Sullivan did his talking through a pre-packaged press release that allows no questions.

His press release said Jackson is engaging, intelligent, impressive and inspiring. But it appears she is not engaging, intelligent, impressive or inspiring enough to win his vote.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, one of only three Republicans to vote for Jackson, did stop to talk about her decision. She said that Jackson has demonstrated the ability to decide cases on the facts and has the right temperament.

“You saw instances where she ruled for the administration and against the administration,” Murkowski said. “She ruled for environmental groups and against environmental groups. She ruled for labor and against labor.”

“Today’s vote, the confirmation of Judge Jackson, is one that will help to ensure that the face of the United States Supreme Court is more representative of the American people,” Murkowski said in a Capitol hallway, Alaska Public Media reported.

“Think about the strength under fire that we saw with this nominee,” Murkowski said. “You saw what I would call grace under pressure.”

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