Senate

GOP group calls on Republican senators to stand up to McConnell on election security in new ads

by Justin Wise - 08/21/19 9:49 AM ET

A Republican group is calling on a contingent of GOP senators to ensure Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) allows debate on bipartisan election security legislation.

Republicans for the Rule of Law on Wednesday released a series of 30-second advertisements separately targeting Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), co-sponsors of bills the group says will “help protect America’s elections.”

The group also targets Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the chairman of the Senate Rules Committee who has said that he will not bring up the legislation for a vote in committee.

{mosads}The advertisements are set to run almost daily on “Fox & Friends” in the senators’ home states for the remainder of the August recess. The ads will also air on “Fox News Sunday” and “Meet the Press.”

The television spots come as part of a larger campaign from Republicans for the Rule of Law to pressure McConnell to take up election security legislation in the Senate.

The group released a 60-second ad earlier this month targeting McConnell for his move to block requests from Democratic senators to pass election security bills by unanimous consent.

McConnell has defended the decision, arguing that the bills were partisan in nature and that the Trump administration has made a concerted effort to secure the nation’s elections.

The ads released Wednesday air the statements Graham, Rubio, Blunt and Lankford have made about Russian interference in U.S. elections.

“Russia’s interference is a threat to our democracy,” Graham says in one clip. “If we don’t hit them hard, we will be empowering Russia.”

“I don’t think Vladimir Putin interfered in our election,” Rubio says in an ad set to air in Florida. “I know he did.”

The clips go on to mix in broadcast footage describing Russia’s efforts to target U.S. elections in 2016, before a narrator adds that “Mitch McConnell is blocking election security legislation” that some GOP senators have introduced.

“Protect our elections and don’t let Mitch McConnell stand in your way,” the ad concludes.

“[McConnell] does the Republican Party no credit in making election security a Democrat issue, and then claiming that all election security bills are partisan power-grabs,” Chris Truax, a legal adviser and spokesman for Republicans for the Rule of Law, said in a statement.

“He must bring Republican-backed election security legislation to the floor for debate and amendment as soon as Congress returns from recess. McConnell and all Republican Senators have no greater responsibility than protecting our elections from foreign enemies like Russia and Iran. If Senator McConnell is unwilling to take the lead on this issue, the least he can do is get out of the way.”

McConnell ignited fierce backlash last month after blocking two attempts from Democrats to pass election security legislation. The move from the Kentucky senator came just a day after former special counsel Robert Mueller warned that Russia was trying to interfere in the 2020 elections.

Former GOP lawmaker and MSNBC host Joe Scarborough branded McConnell “Moscow Mitch” following his decision, a nickname that has since gone viral among Democrats. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called McConnell by the name last week.

McConnell has pushed back against the criticism, calling it “modern-day McCarthyism” during a floor speech.

“These pundits are lying, lying when they dismiss the work that has been done. They’re lying when they insist I have personally blocked actions which, in fact, I have championed and the Senate has passed. They are lying when they suggest that either party is against defending our democracy,” he said on the Senate floor last month.

When reached for comment on the ad, McConnell’s office referred The Hill to a letter outlining the senator’s efforts to bolster election security. The letter includes details on steps that McConnell says has led to stronger election systems in the U.S.

Meanwhile, McConnell’s campaign manager Kevin Golden accused Republicans for Rule of Law of “taking money from a left-wing billionaire and spending it to attack President Trump and Senator McConnell.”

Republicans for Rule of Law touts itself as a group of “life-long Republicans dedicated to defending the institutions of our republic.” The group has faced scrutiny in the past for accepting donations from Pierre Omidyar, the eBay founder who has donated to Democrats and other anti-Trump groups.

Omidyar sits on the board of Democracy Fund Voice, a group that in 2018 donated $1.6 million to Defending Democracy Together and its Republicans for the Rule of Law project.

“They’re taking money from a left-wing billionaire and spending it to attack President Trump and Senator McConnell. Scam pacs come in all shapes and sizes, but this is the first one I’ve seen that resembles a laundromat,” Golden said.

— Updated at 11:35 a.m.