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WASHINGTON, DC – This week, new reporting from Politico revealed that Leonard Leo used his role as executive vice president of the Federalist Society to secure a financial windfall for his network of conservative nonprofits and expand his influence beyond the courts. 

The piece outlines how Leo approached billionaire GOP megadonor Barre Seid under the guise of Federalist Society fundraising. Instead, Leo walked away with a $1.6 billion contribution to the Marble Freedom Trust, his secretive conservative nonprofit expected to bolster right-wing efforts for years to come.

The outcome was described as “unusual” given that the Federalist Society’s “tax status forbids political activism.” And in just two years, Leo’s 85 Fund, which receives funding from Marble Freedom Trust, contributed $9.1 million to the Federalist Society, making the legal organization the second-largest beneficiary of Leo’s dark money network.

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Leonard Leo’s scandals continue to pile up. From personal enrichment to using a nonpartisan organization for overt political gain, we’ve only scratched the surface of Leo’s corruption and his impact on undermining our democracy.”

Accountable.US president Kyle Herrig.

 

The story notes: “Leo appears to be planning to use Seid’s money to create a new ecosystem of conservative activism that he’s likening to a Federalist Society for cultural institutions from schools to boardrooms. That he and a small circle of his friends appear to be getting wealthy in the process is all the more in contrast with many of the society’s largely academic members who’ve spent 40 years building the group’s pedigree as the nation’s premier debating society, which is above the political fray.”

Learn more about conservative kingpin Leonard Leo and his expansive campaign to remake American society at LeonardLeo.org.

 

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