The re-election campaign for Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) apologized Thursday for a fundraising email that mentioned the assault allegations against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
The email suggested Hirono could not give adequate attention to fundraising because she was consumed by the Kavanugh investigation.
The email was sent shortly after professor Christine Blasey Ford began testifying for the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to published reports. The hearing played out on national TV Thursday.
"I am spending every minute of my day fighting the Republicans who are desperate to rush Brett Kavanaugh's nomination and deny a fair investigation into the credible sexual misconduct allegations against him," Hirono wrote. "This has to be my focus."
"What that means is I have limited time to campaign for our re-election or to fundraise — making us particularly vulnerable to right-wing attacks," she added.
The message contained a donation button for "$3 or more" and had two "contribute" buttons, CNN reported.
Hirono is one of the most outspoken Democrats on the allegations against Judge Kavanaugh, who has denied the allegations.
About an hour after the email was sent, Hirono's campaign apologized.
“A fundraising message was sent this morning in error," read an email signed by "Team Hirono." "We apologize sincerely for the error. All contributions that were made on this page will be donated to organizations helping survivors of sexual assault."
Hirono is not the only Democrat who has tried to capitalize on the Kavanaugh hearing, CNN reported.
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) filed a lawsuit Wednesday to stop the Senate vote on Kavanaugh.
Merkley also sent an email about the lawsuit that asked supporters to donate between $5 and $50.
Merkley said the email was simply him speaking with his base.
"Well, very simple thing is all of us keep our constituency informed about what we're doing. We ask for support if people agree with it," he told CNN.
He also reportedly said that if people "want to support me, that's separate from the issue here before us of a violation of separation of powers.”
