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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAbout time someone went after the Federalist Society, Thank you Sen. Whitehouse
Link to tweet
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Meet Leonard Leo-
Even as Leo counseled Trump on judicial picks, he and his allies were raising money for nonprofits that under IRS rules do not have to disclose their donors. Between 2014 and 2017 alone, they collected more than $250 million in such donations, sometimes known as dark money, according to a Post analysis of the most recent tax filings available. The money was used in part to support conservative policies and judges, through advertising and through funding for groups whose executives appeared as television pundits.
The groups in Leos network often work in concert and are linked to Leo and one another by finances, shared board members, phone numbers, addresses, back-office support and other operational details, according to tax filings, incorporation records, other documents and interviews.
Nine of the groups hired the same conservative media relations firm, Creative Response Concepts, collectively paying it more than $10 million in contracting fees in 2016 and 2017. During that time, the firm coordinated a months-long media campaign in support of Trumps Supreme Court nominee, Neil M. Gorsuch, including publishing opinion essays, contributing 5,000 quotes to news stories, scheduling pundit appearances on television and posting online videos that were viewed 50 million times, according to a report on the firms website.
In another case, a nonprofit Leo launched in 2016, the Freedom and Opportunity Fund, gave $4 million over two years to a nonprofit called Independent Womens Voice, about half the groups revenue, tax filings show. Leaders of Independent Womens Voice last year spoke at rallies, wrote online commentary and appeared regularly on Fox News to promote another of Trumps Supreme Court nominees, Brett M. Kavanaugh.
The groups in Leos network often work in concert and are linked to Leo and one another by finances, shared board members, phone numbers, addresses, back-office support and other operational details, according to tax filings, incorporation records, other documents and interviews.
Nine of the groups hired the same conservative media relations firm, Creative Response Concepts, collectively paying it more than $10 million in contracting fees in 2016 and 2017. During that time, the firm coordinated a months-long media campaign in support of Trumps Supreme Court nominee, Neil M. Gorsuch, including publishing opinion essays, contributing 5,000 quotes to news stories, scheduling pundit appearances on television and posting online videos that were viewed 50 million times, according to a report on the firms website.
In another case, a nonprofit Leo launched in 2016, the Freedom and Opportunity Fund, gave $4 million over two years to a nonprofit called Independent Womens Voice, about half the groups revenue, tax filings show. Leaders of Independent Womens Voice last year spoke at rallies, wrote online commentary and appeared regularly on Fox News to promote another of Trumps Supreme Court nominees, Brett M. Kavanaugh.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/investigations/leonard-leo-federalists-society-courts/
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About time someone went after the Federalist Society, Thank you Sen. Whitehouse (Original Post)
EleanorR
Mar 2021
OP
alwaysinasnit
(5,059 posts)1. k&r for visibility
rurallib
(62,380 posts)2. Democracies die in the dark
dweller
(23,613 posts)3. Whitehouse laid this all out 10/13/20
EleanorR
(2,388 posts)4. Thanks so much for the link
Damn, I'd somehow forgotten about this spot on presentation.
dweller
(23,613 posts)5. You're welcome
It really is chock full of info !
✌🏻
crickets
(25,952 posts)6. Sen. Whitehouse is really on the ball lately. I am so impressed. nt