Yesterday, Rolling Stone detailed conservative kingpin Leonard Leo’s plan to “flood” the Supreme Court with cases that, if won, would push America to the far right.
“We can see Leonard Leo’s fingerprints in many of the cases argued over recent Supreme Court terms. He’s now confirmed that he and his billionaire buddies are just getting started in flooding our courts with extreme cases,” said End Citizens United Communications Director Jonas Edwards-Jenks. “These cases will advance their dangerous and unpopular agenda to enrich his donors and threaten our rights and freedoms. By expanding and weaponizing his corrupt dark money network, Leo wants to quietly buy the American people out of our government.”
Rolling Stone: Supreme Court Puppetmaster Explains How Billionaires Can Push America Right
Andrew Perez
03/18/24
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“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 said in a new podcast interview, calling on the ultra-wealthy to support these litigation efforts.
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“We have a great Overton window in the next couple of decades to really try to create a free society,” Leo said of the Supreme Court. “And I think we should take full advantage of it.”
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The co-chair of the Federalist Society, the conservative lawyers network, Leo is best known as the man who helped build the Supreme Court’s conservative 6-3 supermajority, in his role as President Donald Trump’s judicial adviser. Leo’s dark money network, which received a historic $1.6 billion infusion in 2021, additionally helps bring cases before the high court, influence which cases the justices consider, and shape the court’s decisions. As Rolling Stone reported last month, Leo has been working to expand his network in recent months.
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Leo has been at the center of the ethics questions swirling around the Supreme Court in the past year. ProPublica reported that Leo arranged Justice Samuel Alito’s seat on a private jet — paid for by a billionaire hedge-fund chief — as part of an undisclosed luxury fishing trip in Alaska in 2008. He also reportedly steered secret consulting payments to Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife.
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In the interview, Leo spoke about his $1.6 billion dark money fund, called the Marble Freedom Trust, explaining: “We’re trying to really institute a lot of legal and social change through philanthropy.” He also offered his thoughts on how billionaires can help conservatives limit regulations, take over corporate C-suites, reshape America’s education system, and influence our culture. Leo, a devout Catholic, additionally discussed his interest in reforming religious institutions.
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Leo outlined how conservatives can chip away at the administrative state by flooding the courts with legal challenges.
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In the business realm, he argued, “We need to be building pipelines of talent — pipelines of people who understand that the Constitution matters, and that the private sector and civil society matter. And that means building talent pipelines of people who can be in the C-suite and in boardrooms, because corporate America plays an enormously important role in potentially constraining government.”
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Leo has financed the right-wing campaign against so-called “woke capitalism,” targeting the use of ESG — environmental, social, and governance — criteria in investment decisions.
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Twice in the interview, Leo talked about the need for conservatives to “build talent pipelines in the media and entertainment industry,” adding: “There are a lot of people in the entertainment world who really understand limited government and free society. And they’re not happy with the entertainment world, and they’re looking for opportunities to band together, and to be a part of new enterprises.”
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Leo’s network has funded the conservative National Review Institute as well as the RealClearFoundation, a nonprofit affiliated with the political news aggregator RealClearPolitics.
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Another key element in Leo’s pitch to prospective donors centered around education — both K-12 and higher education.
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Leo explained this means recruiting teachers and working to influence education board races, “so that we can begin to have some sanity and local education.”
- One group in Leo’s network, Free to Learn, has been involved in local school board elections. His network recently created a new group called the American Parents Coalition.
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