Netizens were angry on Monday morning after reading an article in the New York Times about a $1.6 billion donation that conservative activist Leonard Leo got.
Barre Seid, a businessman, gave money to a new group led by Federalist Society co-chair Leonardo, who advised Trump’s Supreme Court nominees and helped end federal abortion rights.
It is the most money ever given to a political campaign in the United States. Find out how a secret billionaire gave his money to the person who planned the takeover of the courts by the right-wing.
How much money does Federalist Society Executive Vice President Leonard Leo have?
Leonard Leo’s clear net worth is only $5 million, but he has made a lot more than that over the years. To give you an idea, Leo and his friends have made more than $450 million since 2005, and that doesn’t include their Marble Freedom Trust.
Also, The Washington Post 2019 said that the Federalist Society has been paying Leo more than $400,000 a year for several years. In the same year, it was said that Leo had helped conservative nonprofits get $250 million from different donors who did not want to be named. Over the past few years, he gave this amount to help conservative judges and their causes.
The unusual donation of $1.6 billion has helped conservatives because it has brought attention to the latest news. A low-key Republican investor gave his money to a new group led by a powerful businessman named Leonard A. Leo.
Last year, a donor few people knew about gave $1.6 billion to a new conservative nonprofit organization. This unusual donation could help Republicans and their causes in the midterm elections and for many years to come.
The money came from Barre Seid, who made a lot of money in the electronics industry. This is one of the biggest single donations to a political nonprofit in the history of the United States.
Bio of Leonard Leo’s Work
Leonard Leo is a lawyer and legal activist from the United States. He was the Federalist Society’s vice president for a long time, and he and Steven G. Calabresi now share the role of chairman of the board of directors.
During the recent Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case, Leonard’s name got a lot of attention. Even though most Americans supported abortion rights, a group of conservative activists worked hard for years to get Roe v. Wade overturned. Leonard Leo, in particular, played a big part in this campaign.
Leo put forward John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court. He also backed Clarence Thomas at his confirmation hearings. Leo also led the way in helping to get these people nominated.
Sally Leo, Leonard Leo’s wife, and their children
Leonard and Sally Leo are married, and they have seven children together. He lives with his family in Northern Virginia, but he hasn’t said anything else about his wife and kids.
In 1989, when Leonard was a student at Cornell Law School, he started the student chapter of the Federalist Society. In 1991, he moved to Washington, D.C., to work for the organization.
Leonard met Clarence Thomas when he worked as a clerk for the Appeals Court. Over time, they became very close. Leo didn’t start working at the Federalist Society right away because he wanted to support Thomas at his Supreme Court nomination hearings. He has worked for the Federalist Society for more than 25 years in many different roles.
How I grew up and went to school
Leo was born on Long Island, New York, in 1965. He grew up in a Catholic family in a suburb of New Jersey. His grandfather, who came from Italy, worked for Brooks Brothers as a vice president. He went to Cornell University and got his bachelor’s degree in 1986. After college, he worked as an intern in Senator Orrin Hatch’s office. Leo got his J.D. from Cornell Law School in 1989. He then worked as a clerk for federal judge A. Raymond Randolph of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Career
Leo started a student chapter of the Federalist Society in 1989 when he was a law student at Cornell. In 1991, he went to work for the Society in Washington, D.C. He worked as a clerk for the Appeals Court, where he met Clarence Thomas. They became close friends. Leo put off joining the Federalist Society so he could help Thomas during his confirmation hearings for the Supreme Court. Leo worked at the Federalist Society for more than 25 years in different roles. In 2019, The Washington Post said that the Federalist Society had paid Leo an annual salary of more than $400,000 for a number of years.
Leo took time off from the Federalist Society so he could help get John Roberts and Samuel Alito confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Leo helped get Miguel Estrada chosen by the Bush administration to be a judge.
In 2003, George W. Bush planned to criticize the practice of affirmative action in a speech but praise racial diversity. Leo called the White House to complain, saying that the praise for racial diversity would “disgust any conservative who thinks this is a matter of principle.” Leo told The Washington Post that he was “expressing the widely held conservative belief that racial discrimination is always wrong and goes against the dignity and worth of every person.”
After Antonin Scalia died in 2016, Leo raised money to change the name of the law school at George Mason University to the Antonin Scalia Law School. Leo worked with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to stop Merrick Garland from becoming President Barack Obama’s replacement. Leo was the first person to talk to Gorsuch about the possibility that President Donald Trump would appoint Gorsuch to the seat that Scalia’s death left open.
Leo worked hard to stop Merrick Garland from taking Antonin Scalia’s seat on the Supreme Court.[8] The Judicial Crisis Network, which has ties to Leo, said that it spent more than $7 million to stop Garland from being confirmed. Between 2014 and 2017, Leo was linked to 24 conservative nonprofits that raised more than $250 million. Charles Koch and Rebekah Mercer were among the people who gave money to this network.
In 2017, legal expert Jeffrey Toobin said that Leo was “largely responsible” for one-third of the Supreme Court justices.
Kris Mauren of the Acton Institute said in 2017 that Leo “played a major leadership role in choosing and getting a third of the current Supreme Court justices confirmed.”
The Washington Post said about Leo in 2019 that “few people outside of government have more power over judicial appointments than Leo.” In 2019, Leo said that he was “the leader of the conservative legal movement.” Leo said that Mitch McConnell was “certainly the most important majority leader in modern history” because he broke records when he put Republican judicial nominees into office.
In January 2020, Leo told the Federalist Society that he would be leaving his job as vice president to start a new group called CRC Advisors. CRC Advisors is a conservative consulting firm for public affairs. It was modeled after the liberal Arabella Advisors. CRC Advisors has worked against policies that try to stop climate change. Leo stayed in his job as co-chairman of the board of directors for the Federalist Society.
Leo was on an episode of Firing Line on October 12, 2018. When asked about a possible Supreme Court vacancy in an election year in the future, he said: “If a seat opens up in 2020, it must stay open until a new president is elected, sworn in, and can choose. That’s where I stand, full stop.” Leo said he would tell Trump not to fill a Supreme Court vacancy during an election year. He said he had never asked Trump about this possibility, but it was Leo’s opinion that Trump shouldn’t fill a 2020 Supreme Court vacancy.
Leo said that when Ruth Bader Ginsburg dies in September 2020, the fight over her replacement on the Supreme Court “can be an important rallying point for President Trump.”
In September 2020, The Wall Street Journal said that Leo was involved in choosing Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ginsburg on the Supreme Court. This led to Barrett’s appointment.
Work in religion
Leo was the national co-chairman of Catholic outreach for the Republican National Committee and the Catholic strategist for George W. Bush’s 2004 presidential campaign. He was put on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom for three terms by President George W. Bush and the United States Senate.
He is a member of the board of directors for the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.
In 2012, Leo was on the boards of the Catholic Association and the Catholic Association Foundation, which is a part of the Catholic Association. Both of these groups ran campaigns against making same-sex marriage legal. Leo’s work for the Catholic Association earned him $120,000 in 2016.
While Leo was in charge of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, a Muslim policy analyst complained to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that she had been treated unfairly because she was Muslim. Leo said that the organization was not being unfairly treated, and no specific claims were made against Leo. The complaint to the EEOC was turned down.