A conservative legal group is launching TV and digital ads against U.S. Sen. Al Franken for his opposition to one of President Donald Trump's judicial nominees.
Republicans are furious with Franken for blocking the nomination of Minnesota Supreme Court Justice David Stras to the federal bench. Because Stras is from Minnesota, the Senate's informal rules allow Franken to hold up the Stras nomination to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Franken said in a recent statement that Stras would upset the balance of the federal judiciary: "The president should be seeking out judges who bridge the issues that divide us. I fear that Justice Stras's views and philosophy would lead him to reinforce those divisions and steer the already conservative Eighth Circuit even further to the right."
Stras earned plaudits from a wide array of Minnesota lawyers when he was nominated in May, including from former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page. He is the grandson of Holocaust survivors.
Judicial Crisis Network's digital ad targeting Franken will run statewide in Minnesota for two weeks, while the TV ad will air in Minneapolis for two weeks of Sunday morning network news shows and two weeks on CNN and MSNBC.
Carrie Severino, the group's policy director, said Stras has a "sterling record" and called Franken's move to block him "choosing Washington politics over the people of Minnesota."
Franken's opposition to the Stras nomination and other Trump judicial nominees has also drawn the attention of the conservative media this week, with condemnations coming from the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal and National Review magazine.
J. Patrick Coolican • 651-925-5042
