#Leonard #Leo, the conservative activist with an estimated
$1 billion at his disposal,
is threatening to withhold money from the dozens of groups he supports unless they develop plans to "weaponize" their ideas.

Why it matters:

Leo's call for conservative groups to get #more #aggressive will send shockwaves through the right-wing ecosystem he helped create.

Leo wants less conversation and more action
— fewer seminars and more campaigns
— as part of a plan to
"crush liberal dominance at the choke points of influence and power in our society,"
he told the groups in a letter obtained by Axios.

The goal should be to direct "funding to operationalize or weaponize the conservative vision," Leo wrote.

Zoom in:

Leo, 59, is telling organizations backed by his #85Fund that he's undertaking a
"comprehensive review" of his grant-making process.

His letter doesn't mention any specific groups by name, but they know who they are.

Groups such as Teneo,
Honest Elections Project,
Consumers's Research and
Do No Harm
are examples of organizations that have adopted
the kind of #aggressive #tactics Leo encourages, according to a source close to the 85 Fund.

Those groups have run campaigns that have achieved measurable results, such as
Consumers' Research's work on ESG investing,
which has been featured in congressional hearings.

Decisions about future funding will be shared with the groups by the end of November, Leo's letter said.

Zoom out:

Leo helped build the #Federalist #Society, an organization for conservative law students,
into an incubator for lawyers and judges that reshape the federal judiciary and American society.

He helped former President Trump select three conservative jurists for the Supreme Court
— Neil #Gorsuch, Brett #Kavanaugh and Amy Coney #Barrett.
They've transformed federal law on issues ranging from #abortion #rights (overturning Roe v. Wade) to #federal #rule-#making.

In 2022, the New York Times revealedhow a nonprofit Leo controls,
the #Marble #Freedom #Trust, received a ️$1.6 billion contribution from a conservative donor, #Barre #Seid,
who gifted the shares of the company he founded before they were sold.

Leo has an estimated
️$1 billion left to spend,
according to the Financial Times.

Leo, who is credited with the initial $1.6 billion windfall to Marble Freedom Trust, has been responsible for raising donations and support for the 85 Fund.

Between the lines:

Behind Leo's new push is his admiration for what he views as successes of progressive nonprofit groups
such as The #Wyss #Foundation and the
#Berger #Action #Fund,
supported by #Hansjörg #Wyss.

Leo is also convinced that liberal organizations and ideas have captured most influential institutions in government,
media, entertainment and academia.

"They invested in talent pipelines to populate the power centers inside government,
where policy would be implemented,"
Leo writes.

"They incubated litigation as a means of leveraging the law to produce change."

The other side:

As Leo's prominence and influence have increased,
his methods and his conservative network have drawn scrutiny
— and provoked outrage
— in progressive circles.

https://www.axios.com/2024/09/12/leonard-leo-conservative-groups-funding

Leonard Leo typically operates in the background and goes to considerable lengths to cover his philanthropic tracks.

Each year, his groups send millions through #DonorsTrust,
which markets itself as a “principled philanthropic partner for conservative and libertarian donors”
and a means to anonymously fund “sensitive or controversial issues.”

Deep-pocketed benefactors like Leo can tell DonorsTrust where they want their money to ultimately go.

Its board of directors will “always respect grant requests that fall within the DonorsTrust mission and purpose,” per its website.

DonorsTrust declined to discuss the specifics of any contributions identified by The Intercept.

“We do not release to the general public either the names of our accountholders nor specific grants that they may have recommended,” said Lawson #Bader, its president and CEO.

Bader noted that some of the contributions listed on DonorsTrust’s tax filings may have originated from multiple donors.

But Leo’s funding vehicles
— especially the #Marble #Freedom #Trust and the #85Fund,
which he rebranded in 2020 and likely bankrolls via yet another donor-advised fund
— are among the biggest contributors to DonorsTrust.

In 2022, the 85 Fund sent $92 million through DonorsTrust,
more than a quarter of all contributions to DonorsTrust that year.

Marble Freedom Trust has distributed more than $41 million via DonorsTrust, according to a filing for its 2020 fiscal year.

The Rule of Law Trust, also run by Leo, gave $5.8 million via DonorsTrust in 2020.

Beside Leo’s groups, other top contributors to DonorsTrust include #Rebekah #Mercer of Cambridge Analytica and Parler fame,
whose Mercer Family Foundation gave $31 million in 2022.

Mercer and other top contributors to DonorsTrust did not respond to The Intercept’s questions for this article.

Whether from Leo or other sources, conservative money has been already flowing to law schools via DonorsTrust for years, mostly to premiere programs.

Since 2019, #Yale Law School has received $250,000 per year for the “Diversity in Democracy Professorship Fund”;
Yale declined to explain the purpose of this fund or say whether these contributions came from Leo.

New York University Law School received $350,000 in 2021 and $300,000 in 2022 for a libertarian research institute.
#NYU also declined to provide additional details about the source of these contributions.

And since 2020, #Stanford’s student chapter of the Federalist Society received $25,000 per year.
Stanford referred questions to the Federalist Society and DonorsTrust.

There were also millions sent to George Mason University’s #Scalia Law School,
which Leo helped make one of the gravitational centers for conservative legal academia.

Since 2017, Scalia Law School received at least $4 million each year via DonorsTrust,

much of it earmarked for its Law & Economics Center, which puts on often lavish doctrinal bootcamps for judges, one of which was held in Leo’s literal backyard.
https://theintercept.com/2024/05/29/leonard-leo-donor-law-schools/