On Supreme Court steps, Dem senator calls right-leaning justices 'servants' of dark money interests
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Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse stood outside the Supreme Court Wednesday and called out GOP justices for the "evil" of allowing unlimited dark money into elections and partisan gerrymandering.
The Rhode Island Democrat was speaking at an event with other senators and activists to promote election reform legislation, known as S.1, when he took a personal swipe at the justices.
"We got to keep the spotlight on the six Republicans in the building behind me who are the servants of right-wing dark money interests," Whitehouse said at the steps of the Supreme Court. "That is no place for a court to be in our great republic, and we have got to call it out."
Whitehouse said it was fitting to hold a rally on the S.1 legislation at the Supreme Court since the For the People Act aims to curb dark money political donations and end partisan gerrymandering.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., walks past people holding up the words "For the People" as he arrives for a rally in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, Wednesday, June 9, 2021, to support the Senate's upcoming election bill. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (AP)
"Thank you particularly for holding this in front of the United States Supreme Court – the captured court that has done so much evil to our democracy," Whitehouse said. He said the high court gave "a clear path to partisan gerrymandering" and opened up "unlimited money into our politics."
Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who has long raised alarms about anonymous big-money interests in politics, brought up the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court ruling that opened up the floodgates for corporate money in elections and gave way to Super PACs.
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"So we didn't just get unlimited money from Citizens United, we got unlimited anonymous, corrupting money," Whitehouse said. "And now they have taken a case where they're looking to give anonymous unlimited corrupting money a constitutional right. We cannot let that happen."
