Pete Buttigieg’s campaign has decided to reject donations from attorneys Alexandra Walsh and Beth Wilkinson, citing their law firm’s representation of Brett Kavanaugh as the reason:
.@PeteButtigieg’s presidential campaign said it made a mistake in accepting donations from Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s lawyers and would be returning them, saying they "believe the women."
The contributions were made be two women lawyers.https://t.co/NSNeZllFep
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) November 27, 2019
More from the Washington Examiner:
“With nearly 700,000 donors, a contribution we would otherwise refuse sometimes gets through. We believe the women who have courageously spoken out about Brett Kavanaugh’s assault and misconduct, and we thank the Guardian for bringing this contribution to our attention,” the campaign said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the campaign added: “[Kavanaugh] should have never been put on the Supreme Court, and this campaign will not accept donations from those who played a role in making that happen. Accordingly, we will be returning this contribution and others from this firm.”
Wilkinson has donated to other Democrats this election cycle, including contributions of $1,000 to Sen. Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign and $2,800 to Sen. Michael Bennet. She also gave $2,800 to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a critic of Kavanaugh, who has since dropped out of the 2020 race. Walsh is also a frequent donor to Democrats.
Both women have donated to Democrats, but the mere fact that they chose to uphold their responsibilities as attorneys and give Brett Kavanaugh the best legal defense they could is apparently too egregious a sin to ignore.
Yeah, this seems very reasonable on the Buttigieg campaign’s part and doesn’t at all reek of petty vindictiveness.
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So lawyers are supposed to be ostracized if we don't approve of their clients? This idea leads to a very bad place. https://t.co/NOokYxKiqr
— Jonathan H. Adler (@jadler1969) November 27, 2019
Perhaps an unpopular take but this seems like a mistake. Lawyers represent clients. It doesn’t mean they are their cleints. Yes, they volunteered to take Kavanaugh's case. But they did so out of fidelity to the idea that everyone deserves representation, which is a good principle https://t.co/YZdTXXzkmb
— Sam Stein (@samstein) November 27, 2019
Yet another of the once-bedrock principles of my profession that people are now not sure if they're aloud to speak out loud. https://t.co/9VtupyOkNZ
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) November 27, 2019
Interesting.
Kavanaugh hasn’t been convicted of anything and has mostly been shown to be a victim of a smear campaign, but plenty of lawyers and firms do represent convicted criminals. Will the Dem campaign be rejecting their donations under this principle? https://t.co/Rw4hbGcbtA
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) November 27, 2019
What about lawyers who represent terrorists or murderers? I guarantee some are on their donor lists.
They will take money from them but not those who represented a SCOTUS Justice they tried to smear with questionable allegations from decades ago?
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) November 27, 2019
Everyone is entitled to a defense except conservatives, apparently.
Shows extent to which they considered Kavanaugh guilty and unworthy of a defense regardless of the evidence.
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) November 27, 2019
So we've moved to the "people I don't agree with don't deserve to have legal representation" phase of our politics, eh? Those lawyers are now somehow untouchable? Pathetic.
— Joey Jo-Jo (@joey_jj_jr) November 27, 2019
What a jerk. Is he returning money from lawyers who represented unsavory criminals or just SCOTUS nominees he doesn’t like?
— mick j (@mfjak) November 27, 2019
This is completely idiotic. If one believes in justice, a lawyer must be able to represent clients no matter what the situation. Yes, that’s for civil and criminal. This reflects poorly on @PeteButtigieg and shows he’s easily manipulated.
— MagnoliaPeach ?? (@magnoliapeach) November 27, 2019
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Update:
The political world is on the edge of its collective seat waiting to see if @PeteButtigieg will return this Sullivan & Cromwell-affiliated tainted money due to Sullivan & Cromwell lawyers' pro bono work for… A CONVICTED MURDERER! I mean, he's no Brett Kavanaugh, but… https://t.co/x3PfGwFkXq pic.twitter.com/IrQBDmBY2i
— Jeryl Bier (@JerylBier) November 27, 2019
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