Trump judge picker Leonard Leo may have violated federal association tax status to obtain a $1.6 billion donation.
Leonard Leo, who helped pick former President Donald Trump’s judicial nominee, was introduced through the anti-political Federalist Association and has given his conservative network of lawyers a historic $1.6 billion. Got a gift.
Leo first met the now 91-year-old manufacturing mogul-turned-donor Valle Seid through a referral arranged by longtime Federalist Society board member Eugene Meyer. At the time, Leo was the association’s vice-president and now co-president. Mayer envisioned Thade as a contributor to her society, according to people familiar with the introduction. Instead, Leo nurtured Thayd as a funder for his own Dark Money Network, resulting in her $1.6 billion donation announced last year. This is believed to be the largest political donation ever made.
While the Federalist Society is prohibited from engaging in partisan political activity, Leo uses society as a backdoor to raise huge sums of money from conservative donors for partisan politics. There seems to be
The corrupt arrangement caught the attention of Senator Sheldon White House (D-RI).
This vicious tangle is worth keeping in mind when considering the ethical turmoil of the Supreme Court today. @JudiciaryDems Hearing.
Remember Leo, Clarence Thomas, and portraits of right-wing billionaires.
https://t.co/DZ3vrPRbA4— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) May 2, 2023
Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans are always talking about the swamp. Courts are essential to democracy, but what people like Leonard Leo are doing is destroying democracy with conservative billionaire cash.
Clarence Thomas is a symptom rather than a disease, and it is long overdue that the uncorrupted elements of government step in and save the courts from an inside attack from the right wing.
Jason is the editor-in-chief. He is also a White House press pool and a congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a BA in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy with a specialization in the social reform movement.
Awards and Professional Membership
Member of the Association of Professional Journalists and the American Political Science Association
