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In a wide-ranging podcast interview last week, conservative kingpin Leonard Leo discussed his network’s efforts to eliminate several federal agencies, continue stacking the courts with ideological judges, and impose a regressive social agenda on everyday Americans. The rare interview with Leo was hosted by right-wing tech CEO Joe Lonsdale, a co-founder of Palantir and financier of the unaccredited “anti-woke” University of Austin.

The interview also shed new light on Leo’s plans to reshape American society through his Marble Freedom Trust, the $1.6 billion dark money group that has already routed hundreds of millions of dollars to groups pushing a right-wing agenda.

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From pushing extreme, unpopular policies through the courts to cultivating the next generation of right-wing judges, Leonard Leo continues to use his dark money network to force his right-wing agenda on everyday Americans,”

Accountable.US president Caroline Ciccone

Interview highlights: 

  • When asked about supposedly weaponized prosecutions — including of former President Trump — Leo says the first line of defense is picking the right judges (9:15): “Look, personnel is policy. There’s no rule you can put in place to contain or constrain a rogue. So it all has to do with who you put in in the first instance. So that’s why people have to be engaged in picking political leaders who are going to pick judges who are smart, philosophically aligned, and courageous.”
  • Asked how billionaires can support his efforts, Leo asks for funding to “flood the zone” with legal challenges (20:30): “One, you want to support litigation efforts to enforce the constitution. We talked about some of those cases, but there are many more of those cases that are going to be brought over the next three to five years. It’s really important that we flood the zone with cases that challenge misuse of the constitution by the administrative state and by Congress.” 
  • Leo expresses support for “clipping the wings” of the FTC if his network successfully overturns the Chevron doctrine (26:47): “I think if we continue to be successful with beating back the Chevron doctrine, and if we continue to be successful in enforcing rules that require Congress to be clearer about what standards agencies need to operate under, yes I think you can clip the wings of an agency like the FTC, and I think there’s a good chance you’ll see that occurring with greater frequency.”
  • After Lonsdale claims that the CFPB acts “like the mafia” and compares the CFPB’s efforts to prevent racial discrimination in the marketplace, Leo calls on the Supreme Court to eliminate its funding structure (begins at 27:20): “Hopefully the Supreme Court takes on the issue of Congressional spending in the CFPB case, because I really do think it’s a tremendous violation of separation of powers.”
  • Leo calls for stacking corporate boards with right-wing operatives (34:18): “I do think getting control of c-suites and board rooms across the country is very important. Corporate America, the finance world, banks, they have an enormous amount of influence over our culture and our social life, and we need to be finding ways of getting folks in the c-suites and the board rooms that are tired of our woke culture.”

View the full interview here. Learn more about Leonard Leo, his dangerous agenda, and his shady nonprofit network at LeonardLeo.org.

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