How unsolicited text messages were sent to Hoosiers to put pressure on Sen. Joe Donnelly

WASHINGTON — Jeff Gleason of Fort Wayne was surprised when he got a text Tuesday encouraging him to call Sen. Joe Donnelly in support of President Trump’s newly-announced Supreme Court nominee.

The text seemed odd because Gleason, who works for the steelworkers union, doesn’t like what he’s heard about Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s record on workers’ issues, so he wasn’t sure why he was getting the prompt.

Gleason was even more confused when he called the phone number that appeared to have sent the text – and got a recorded message from Donnelly thanking him for calling his Senate office.

“I was shocked,” Gleason said. “I knew Sen. Donnelly hadn’t released a position.”

The text hadn’t, in fact, come from Donnelly’s office, but from the Judicial Crisis Network, one of the conservative groups campaigning for Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

Read more: https://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2018/07/13/do-texts-pressuring-joe-donnelly-support-brett-kavanaugh-comply-federal-rules/782090002/