Super PAC starts 2018 spending attacking GOP over Tillerson

American Bridge, the super PAC founded by Democratic strategist David Brock, is launching its first 2018 campaign with an ad targeting several GOP senators over Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson.

The effort includes promoted Facebook posts specifically targeting Sens. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), Dean Heller (R-Nev.), and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in major metropolitan areas within each state. 

The separate posts ask if the individual senators will “bow down to Russia.”

The American Bridge buy also includes a digital ad featuring cable news reports of Republican senators, including Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), expressing concern over Tillerson’s connections to Russia.

{mosads}“American Bridge is launching these ads to highlight the alarmingly close ties between Tillerson and Vladimir Putin and the grave threat a pro-Putin State Department would pose to our nation’s security,” said American Bridge President Jessica Mackler.

Heller and Flake are both up for re-election in 2018. Rubio, though not up for re-election, could cast a shadow over Tillerson’s nomination by voting no during the Foreign Relations Committee hearing.

Rubio has already said he has “serious concerns” about the ExxonMobil CEO’s ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Flake, who also sits on the Foreign Relations Committee, suggested earlier this week that he is maintaining an open mind on Tillerson.

“Donald Trump’s nomination of Rex Tillerson — a close Putin ally — is a critical opportunity for Americans across the political spectrum to come together and reject Russia’s unprecedented attacks on our democracy,” Mackler said.

“At stake in this nomination fight is whether our country will stand up against the Kremlin’s cyberattacks or bow down to Russian aggression.”