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Today, new reporting from Bloomberg highlights recently-published tax filings revealing over $140 million apparently flowing from Leonard Leo’s Marble Freedom Trust to Leo’s 85 Fund — bringing total contributions to more than a quarter billion dollars in just two years. Bloomberg also exposes The 85 Fund’s many aliases, which deflect scrutiny from the organization central to Leo’s sprawling network and carry out issue-specific attacks on everyday Americans’ rights.

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The 85 Fund continues to use its seemingly unfettered access to Leonard Leo’s $1.6 billion windfall to fund his right-wing agenda — even going so far as to register fictitious names to launch far-right, issue-targeted attacks and dodge transparency. It’s no surprise that this same group sits at the core of Leo’s self-enrichment scheme currently under apparent investigation by the DC attorney general. The 85 Fund is a key piece of Leo’s opaque network, which bankrolls extreme causes and simultaneously ensures Leo and his allies benefit.”

Accountable.US president Caroline Ciccone

A new tax filing provides insight into how Leo has seemingly moved hundreds of millions of dollars to The 85 Fund without consequence. Leo is chairman of the Marble Freedom Trust, a nonprofit that received a record $1.6 billion windfall in 2021. During the same financial year, Marble Freedom Trust funneled $153.8 million to the Schwab Charitable Fund, which in turn gave $141.5 million to the 85 Fund. Schwab Charitable Fund’s newest 990 reveals that Leo seemingly routed another $141.25 million to the 85 Fund the subsequent year, a contribution which accounted for nearly all of the 85 Fund’s revenue — underscoring Leo’s ability to indirectly fund the 85 Fund with his massive Marble Freedom Trust.

The 85 Fund is reportedly a central focus of the DC attorney general’s investigation into Leo for alleged misuse of tax dollars for self-enrichment. According to its latest 990, the 85 Fund routed over $21 million to Leo’s for-profit firm CRC Advisors.

New Accountable.US research exposes The 85 Fund’s various front groups, which purport to be independent, issue-focused organizations but are in actuality fictitious names for The 85 Fund itself with its war chest at their disposal. These fronts — including the Honest Elections Project, the American Parents Coalition, and more — have taken on extreme causes, from attacks on voting rights to targeting LGBTQ youth in schools.

Learn more about Leonard Leo, his expansive nonprofit network, and his extreme far-right agenda at LeonardLeo.org.

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