South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg's 2020 campaign has decided to return donations from two lawyers who represented Brett Kavanaugh during his controversial Supreme Court confirmation hearing last year.
The campaign received $7,200 from Alexandra Walsh and $2,800 from Beth Wilkinson, both from the Washington law firm Wilkinson Walsh Eskovitz, which represented Brett Kavanaugh after Christine Blasey Ford accused him of sexually assaulting her in high school, The Guardian reports.
When The Guardian inquired about the donations, a spokesperson for the Buttigieg campaign said they would be returned, adding that "[Kavanaugh] should have never been put on the Supreme Court." The spokesperson also clarified that Mayor Pete was not aware of Walsh's connection to Justice Kavanaugh when he attended a fundraiser the lawyer had co-hosted in July.
Buttigieg is not the only Democratic presidential candidate who has received donations from Kavanaugh's lawyers. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) — another sharp critic of Kavanaugh who strongly opposed his nomination — received $1,000, while Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) — a vocal proponent of the #MeToo movement who recently dropped out of the presidential race — received $2,800 from Wilkinson.