Key Democrats and progressives have been joined by a top Hillary Clinton lieutenant in their effort to block the Supreme Court nomination of Neil Gorsuch because they question the legitimacy of President Trump's election.

Pushing a theory that Trump's election was improperly bolstered by Russia, former Clinton-era Labor Secretary Robert Reich said for MoveOn.org, "until we know he is a legitimate president, Trump can't be presumed to have the authority to make such a pick."



And on Sunday, Hillary Clinton's campaign communications director said a filibuster is the only course of action for Democrats until the investigation into Russia's 2016 efforts is done.

"If Clinton had won with the help of the Russians, the Republicans would have impeachment proceedings underway for treason," Jennifer Palmieri wrote in the Washington Post.

She added: "Don't let business continue on Capitol Hill without insisting at every opportunity that our nation should resolve the Russia matter. Filibustering Neil Gorsuch is a good start. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer is right that it would be 'unseemly' to move forward with a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court by a president whose campaign is under an active FBI investigation."

Their voices are part of a growing Democratic chorus to use the Gorsuch nomination to draw more attention to the Russia affair and turn it into a scandal.

In fact, here's how the Washington Post headlined her commentary given prominent placement on the front of its Outlook section Sunday: "We tried to warn you about Russia. No one listened. Clinton campaign aide Jennifer Palmieri on how the Democrats can make the scandal stick now."

Reich, meanwhile, is pushing the case that the Russian hacking into Democratic email accounts was done for Trump, making him illegally elected, and thus not allowed to pick court judges.

It is just part of a laundry list of accusations he has thrown at Trump, and they are all wrapped up in a new MoveOn video.

The anti-Gorsuch campaign, coming after he eased through confirmation hearings last week, might backfire since many Americans view the opposition as dirty politics.

A Rasmussen Reports survey, for example, said that 49 percent "believe opposition to President Trump's first Supreme Court nominee is due mostly to partisan politics." Just 37 percent said "opposition is based more on honest differences of opinion."

Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com