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POLITICO Reports Right-Wing Activist Leonard Leo Brokered Million Dollar Deal for Kellyanne Conway During SCOTUS Nominations
Washington, D.C – POLITICO’s Heidi Przybyla published an investigative story today showing how Leonard Leo leveraged his enterprise to secure a windfall for senior Trump advisor and campaign manager Kellyanne Conway at the same time she was closely advising Trump to nominate Leo’s hand-picked judicial activists to the highest court in the country.
POLITICO’s reporting details how a Leo-led dark money group, BH Fund, financed the sale of Conway’s firm after her continued ownership prompted accusations of a conflict of interest. The sale resulted in a multimillion-dollar fortune for Conway at a time when Conway herself reported involvement in high-level meetings about Supreme Court vacancies. Over the next four years, Conway continuously advocated for the nomination of Leo-endorsed judges poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, a long-term, top-priority for Leonard Leo.
This shows Leonard Leo’s willingness to use his vast sums of money to install right-wing activist judges and enrich Trump cronies. This episode raises serious concerns about how he may use the no-strings-attached $1.6 billion windfall from Barre Seid.”
Kyle Herrig, President of Accountable.US
The New York Times reported the donation as “among the largest — if not the largest — single contributions ever made to a politically focused nonprofit.”
“It’s the latest example of how Leo has used his network to secure and protect allies at the highest levels of government to successfully advance his decadeslong agenda of shifting the Supreme Court rightward for the next generation,” wrote Przybyla.
Over the past year, Leo’s justices solidified the extremist right-wing makeup of the court, releasing a series of decisions remaking American society. In addition to stripping Americans of their fundamental right to abortion, all three of the Trump-appointed, Leo-backed justices cast key votes to gut gun safety laws and hamstring the EPA’s ability to address the climate crisis.
“Leo’s outsized role in promoting conservative candidates for judgeships has come under scrutiny as polls show public confidence in the integrity of the court plummeting,” added Przybyla.
This reporting comes after a second bombshell report from the New York Times earlier this year outlining Leonard Leo’s influence over conservatives in Washington. Accountable.US recently launched Monitoring Influence to provide Americans with information about Leo and other right-wing activists attempting to undermine our democracy.
