November 22, 2017 11:26 AM UTC

Poll: Who Spent Millions on Neil Gorsuch?

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• by: Colorado Pols

Tax disclosures for major right-wing interest group The Wellspring Committee, which provided millions of dollars in funding to the campaign first to prevent President Barack Obama from successfully replacing the late Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court, and then to grease the wheels for eventual Justice Neil Gorsuch of Colorado–Maplight’s Andrew Perez:

The Wellspring Committee, a Virginia-based nonprofit, donated more than $23 million last year to the Judicial Crisis Network, which spent $7 million on advertisements pushing Republican senators to block President Barack Obama’s court pick, Merrick Garland. After the election, the network spent another $10 million to boost President Donald Trump’s pick, Justice Neil Gorsuch.

Wellspring received more than $32 million in donations last year, with $28.5 million coming from a single, anonymous donor. Before 2016, Wellspring had never received more than $13.2 million in annual donations. As a social welfare organization, Wellspring is not required to disclose its donors…

Certainly a lot of big money moved in support of Gorsuch, but it’s fair to say that $28.5 million is a lot of simoleons–enough to rule out all but the very biggest players in conservative politics. We immediately thought of Phil Anschutz, the Colorado billionaire who Gorsuch used to work for and who who could probably find $28 million under his couch cushions. But the money does predate Gorsuch’s nomination, and although Anschutz certainly puts his money where his throwback politics are, plenty of other big spenders should not be ruled out.

A poll follows: pin the billionaire on the money! You might as well since you’ll probably never know for sure.