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 New reporting this weekend revealed that the Leonard Leo-linked Concord Fund made a rare donation to the Congressional Leadership Fund just one day after Representatives Jim Jordan (R-OH) and James Comer (R-KY) threatened to subpoena DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb for an ongoing probe into Leo’s network. The quarter million dollar donation was the Concord Fund’s first federal PAC donation in nine years, raising serious questions about Jordan’s and Comer’s efforts to interfere with an active criminal investigation.

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Leonard Leo is working to implement policies with a vision that’s far too extreme for most Americans. Now, members of Congress have weaponized their government power against his critics. Leo may consider himself to be beyond scrutiny, but he isn’t. He and his network must be held to the same standards as everyday Americans.”

Accountable.US president Caroline Ciccone

In August, DC Attorney General Schwalb launched a probe into a circular payment structure between Leo’s for-profit consulting firm and his nonprofit network. According to an IRS complaint filed by watchdog Campaign for Accountability, Leo’s nonprofits have paid his for-profit companies more than $73 million since 2016.

In September, the Concord Fund hired OnMessage Inc. to lobby on government oversight and “the rule of law.” Subsequently, Republican Attorneys General, all of whom are current or former members of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), sent a letter to the DC AG in defense of Leo. The Concord Fund was RAGA’s largest donor in 2023. Former Connecticut Assistant Attorney General Karen Gano noted that she had never seen a group of attorneys general attacking another AG “with a targeted and political viewpoint.”

The donation coincided with a media blitz led by Judicial Crisis Network President Carrie Severino and conservative influencers against AG Schwalb and the probe. 

Taken together, Leo appears to have led a coordinated campaign to attack DC’s top law enforcement officer and enlisted two Republican Committee Chairs to do his bidding.

Commenting on the story, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said: “Leo runs what is in essence a domestic covert operation funded by creepy billionaires who want to impose their unwelcome ideology through unrepresentative courts.”

Learn more about Leonard Leo, his dangerous agenda, and shady web of nonprofits at LeonardLeo.org.

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