Leonard Leo is a right-wing legal operative and the longtime Vice President of the Federalist Society, where he worked in various capacities for more than 25 years. Leo has shuttled money to numerous groups submitting amicus briefs to the court over the past two decades, a role that has increased dramatically since Barre Seid gave him control of a $1.6 billion trust fund. Leo is now spending more than $100 million a year to help change the law in line with his radical right-wing agenda, including by funding numerous groups submitting amicus briefs to reverse key legal precedents of the past century.
Leonard Leo played an instrumental role in the nomination and confirmation processes for both Justice Thomas and Justice Alito. Leo has also arranged for Thomas to attend private retreats with wealthy conservative donors, funneled a six-figure sum to Thomas’ wife Ginni, and made Thomas a godfather to one of his daughters. Leo has dined and traveled with Justice Alito several times, including trips to Alaska and the Palace of Versailles.
Leonard Leo “help[ed] Thomas through his contentious confirmation process for the Supreme Court” in 1991. Leo has since “helped arrange for … Thomas to attend private donor retreats hosted by the Koch brothers” and has secretly arranged to pay an untold sum of at least $100,000 to Thomas’s wife Ginni Thomas. That money from a donor kept secret from the public was funneled through a non-profit group called the Judicial Education Project/the 85 Fund/the Honest Elections Project, which is closely tied to Leo and which has filed numerous amicus briefs to the Court. Leo insisted that record-keeping relating to the payments to Ginni Thomas make “no mention of Ginni, of course.” Clarence Thomas is a godfather to one of Leo’s daughters.
Leo has shuttled money to numerous groups submitting amicus briefs to the court over the past nearly two decades, a role that has increased dramatically since Barre Seid gave him control of a $1.6 billion trust fund. Leo is now spending more than $100 million a year to help change the law in line with his agenda, including by funding numerous groups submitting amicus briefs aligned with his agenda to reverse key legal precedents of the past century.
Leo has “dined and traveled with Alito, displaying in his office a framed photo of himself, Alito and Alito’s wife, Martha-Ann, standing outside the Palace of Versailles … [Leo] helped organize a weekend of salmon fishing in Alaska that included Alito and Paul Singer, the hedge fund billionaire and Leo donor. Leo invited Singer on the trip, according to ProPublica’s reporting, and Leo also asked Singer if he and Alito could fly on Singer’s plane. The Alaskan fishing lodge where the three men stayed was owned by Robin Arkley II, a California businessman and also a Leo donor.”
Leo played an instrumental role getting Alito on to the Supreme Court by tanking Bush’s initial nominee and backing Alito for the vacancy caused by Sandra Day O’Connor’s retirement, through the power of groups he was quarterbacking to capture the Court. Leo has also shuttled money to numerous groups submitting amicus briefs to the court over the past nearly two decades, a role that has increased dramatically since Barre Seid gave him control of a $1.6 billion trust fund. Leo is now spending more than $100 million a year to help change the law in line with his agenda, including by funding numerous groups submitting amicus briefs aligned with his agenda to reverse key legal precedents of the past century.
