{"id":2222905,"date":"2024-04-17T03:25:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T07:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-probing-leonard-leo-share-wealthy-donor-funding-groups-behind-ethics-campaign\/"},"modified":"2024-04-17T03:30:04","modified_gmt":"2024-04-17T07:30:04","slug":"democrats-probing-leonard-leo-share-wealthy-donor-funding-groups-behind-ethics-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-probing-leonard-leo-share-wealthy-donor-funding-groups-behind-ethics-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Democrats are investigating Leonard Leo&#8217;s ties to wealthy donors funding groups involved in an &#8216;ethics&#8217; campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdemocrats-probing-leonard-leo-share-wealthy-donor-funding-groups-behind-ethics-campaign%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2222905&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Senate Democrats are investigating Leonard Leo and conservative activists\u2064 for their connections to wealthy donors funding \u200borganizations involved in the Supreme Court &#8220;ethics&#8221; campaign. Leo, co-chair of the Federalist Society, refuses to\u2062 comply with what he considers \u200can &#8220;unlawful&#8221;\u2064 subpoena from Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats. Financial ties of some lawmakers are under scrutiny for potential conflicts of interest.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Senate Democrats investigating <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/leonard-a-leo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Leonard Leo<\/a> and other conservative activists over their ties to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/supreme-court\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>Supreme Court<\/a> justices pocketed donations from a wealthy businessman bankrolling organizations behind the high court \u201cethics\u201d campaign \u2014 including <em>ProPublica<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Leo, co-chairman of the Federalist Society legal group, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/2963325\/leonard-leo-not-capitulating-durbin-subpoena\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>told<\/a> Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats last week he would not comply with an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/2963800\/leonard-leo-subpoena-democrats-unlawful\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>\u201cunlawful\u201d<\/a> subpoena from the panel, which has accused conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito of harboring conflicts of interest in connection to their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/samuel-alito-luxury-fishing-trip-paul-singer-scotus-supreme-court\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>reported<\/a> relationships with Leo, Republican billionaires Harlan Crow and Paul Singer, and others. But some lawmakers have their own financial ties that ethics experts say could open them up to an apparent conflict of interest, or, at a very minimum, public charges of hypocrisy. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA), as well as other Democrats who have taken aim at right-of-center nonprofit groups connected to Leo, have accepted tens of thousands of dollars from a California philanthropist giving generously each year to influential left-wing foundations, Federal Election Commission filings show.<\/p>\n<p>The philanthropist, Stephen M. Silberstein, has directed regular checks <a href=\"https:\/\/projects.propublica.org\/nonprofits\/organizations\/911852739\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">from<\/a> his private foundation earmarked for \u201cinvestigative reporting\u201d since 2011 to <em>ProPublica, <\/em>according to tax forms. The outlet\u2019s reporting on the alleged misconduct of Supreme Court justices prompted the Senate investigation, and it later appeared to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/why-hasnt-senate-judiciary-subpoenaed-harlan-crow-leonard-leo-scotus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pressure<\/a> lawmakers to subpoena Leo and Crow. Silberstein, a retiree who made his fortune co-founding the software company Innovative Interfaces, also funds left-wing groups now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizen.org\/article\/2023-letter-in-support-of-scotus-ethics-reform-legislation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>backing<\/a> sweeping judiciary ethics reforms and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanprogress.org\/press\/statement-caps-devon-ombres-praises-senate-judiciary-subpoenas-of-harlan-crow-and-leonard-leo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>praising<\/a> Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats for approving the subpoenas to Leo and Crow, a <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> investigation found.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCongressional oversight of the influence of money on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/christian-non-profit-rejected-for-tax-exempt-status-by-irs-bibles-teachings-affiliated-with-the-republican-party\/\" title=\"Christian Non-Profit Rejected For Tax-Exempt Status By IRS: \u2018Bible\u2019s Teachings \u2026 Affiliated With The Republican Party\u2019\">public policy process<\/a> will always be imperfect because the overseers themselves are reliant on special interests, but Sheldon Whitehouse raises this to a whole new level,\u201d said Peter Flaherty, CEO of the National Legal and Policy Center, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ethics-questions-raised-about-bidens-son-in-laws-investments-in-covid-19-response\/\" title=\"Ethics Questions Raised about Biden\u2019s Son-in-Law\u2019s Investments in Covid-19 Response\">ethics watchdog group<\/a>. \u201cWhitehouse and Senate Democrats certainly appear to have conflicts of interest when it comes to investigating Leonard Leo or Harlan Crow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>News of the donations underscores how some Democratic lawmakers place hypocrisy targets on their backs by investigating certain financial ties at the campaign and tax-exempt level, according to Richard Painter, the ex-chief White House ethics lawyer under President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/george-w-bush\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>George W. Bush<\/a>. To Painter, now a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, subpoenas shouldn\u2019t be \u201cfishing expeditions in which members of Congress go after each other\u2019s big donors or the nonprofit organizations they support.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Through his role as chairman of the Judiciary panel\u2019s federal courts subcommittee, Whitehouse has played a key role with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (R-IL) in probing conservative activists, including Leo. The Rhode Island Democrat notably <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SenWhitehouse\/status\/1685017198488641537\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>slammed<\/a> Leo\u2019s attorney, David Rivkin, after Rivkin co-authored a <em>Wall Street Journal<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/samuel-alito-the-supreme-courts-plain-spoken-defender-precedent-ethics-originalism-5e3e9a7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>op-ed<\/a> praising Alito, claiming Rivkin\u2019s move to write the piece showed \u201chow small and shallow the pool of operatives\u201d is among Republicans.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201csame folks keep popping up wearing new hats,\u201d Whitehouse, who did not return a <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> request for comment, said in July 2023. <\/p>\n<p>This election cycle, Whitehouse\u2019s campaign has taken maximum combined contributions of $6,600 from Silberstein, who also gave $5,000 to the senator\u2019s leadership political action committee in November 2023, according to campaign finance records. Silberstein\u2019s last check to Whitehouse before these donations <a href=\"https:\/\/docquery.fec.gov\/cgi-bin\/fecimg\/?25020321324\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>was<\/a> $1,000 in 2005.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Whitehouse\u2019s donor has transferred $2 million combined since 2011 to <em>ProPublica<\/em>, which Whitehouse has widely credited as he investigates conservative activists at the center of <em>ProPublica<\/em>\u2018s reports.<\/p>\n<p><em>ProPublica<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/samuel-alito-luxury-fishing-trip-paul-singer-scotus-supreme-court\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>reported<\/a> in June 2023 that Leo \u201chelped organize\u201d a fishing trip with Alito and Singer, noting, \u201cSinger and the lodge owner were both major donors to Leo\u2019s political groups.\u201d Months later, in September of last year, the outlet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/clarence-thomas-secretly-attended-koch-brothers-donor-events-scotus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>reported<\/a> Leo allegedly arranged appearances by Thomas at Koch network summits, promoting Whitehouse to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SenWhitehouse\/status\/1705225260323209665\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>post<\/a> on social media: \u201cOh, my.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a statement to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>, a <em>ProPublica<\/em> spokesperson asserted that donors and board members are not \u201cmade aware of stories before they are published, nor do they have a say as to which stories reporters pursue.\u201d The spokesperson said <em>ProPublica<\/em>\u2018s newsroom operates \u201cwith fierce independence.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure><figcaption>Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) questions Martha Williams, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as she testifies before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on President\u2019s proposed budget request for fiscal 2024 for her agency, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, May 16, 2023. (AP Photo\/J. Scott Applewhite)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Silberstein\u2019s foundation has also for years sent grants to Public Citizen, a think tank allied with Whitehouse that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizen.org\/article\/2023-letter-in-support-of-scotus-ethics-reform-legislation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>backs<\/a> judiciary reforms. His foundation, which sits on roughly $171 million in assets, has supported Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which has long <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizensforethics.org\/legal-action\/letters\/congress-should-not-interfere-with-investigation-into-leonard-leo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>pressed<\/a> for investigations into Leo and other conservatives. It\u2019s also funded Common Cause, a group that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/press-release\/scotus-scandal-subpoenas-still-necessary-after-high-court-creates-weak-ethics-code\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>expressed<\/a> support for the Durbin-led subpoenas to Leo and Crow in November of last year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe leave it up to donors whether or not to announce which of our programs their funds support,\u201d a Common Cause spokesperson said. <\/p>\n<p>Another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/antifa-blm-vandalize-ice-building-burn-original-starbucks\/\" title=\"Antifa, BLM vandalize ICE building, burn original Starbucks\">left-wing group<\/a> on the receiving end of Silberstein\u2019s largesse is the Center for American Progress, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/southern-poverty-law-center-maintains-160-million-in-offshore-accounts\/\" title=\"Southern Poverty Law Center Maintains 0 Million in Offshore Accounts\">tax forms show<\/a>. The think tank has taken home roughly $5 million from his foundation since 2004. Devon Ombres, its senior courts and legal policy director, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americanprogress.org\/press\/statement-caps-devon-ombres-praises-senate-judiciary-subpoenas-of-harlan-crow-and-leonard-leo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>said<\/a> in a November 2023 statement, \u201cHolding people like Leonard Leo and billionaires like Harlan Crow accountable is necessary to restore faith in American institutions\u201d as part of a press release applauding the subpoenas.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, Silberstein has established himself as a reliable donor to Democratic candidates and causes, such as the Nancy Pelosi Victory Fund, Senate Majority PAC, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Democratic National Committee, financial disclosures <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/receipts\/individual-contributions\/?contributor_name=Stephen+Silberstein\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>show<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Ossoff, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee alongside Whitehouse, accepted $5,600 in 2020 from Silberstein. But it\u2019s not solely members of this panel who have been boosted by the donor.<\/p>\n<p>More than a dozen senators who prepared a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democrats.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/Captured%20Courts%20Report%204-5-22.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>report<\/a> in 2022 accusing the Leo-tied Judicial Crisis Network nonprofit group of spreading \u201cpropaganda\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/receipts\/individual-contributions\/?committee_id=C00196774&#038;committee_id=C00308676&#038;committee_id=C00344473&#038;committee_id=C00434563&#038;committee_id=C00437277&#038;committee_id=C00500843&#038;committee_id=C00540732&#038;committee_id=C00575548&#038;committee_id=C00663781&#038;committee_id=C00693234&#038;contributor_name=Stephen+Silberstein\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>raked<\/a> in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/receipts\/individual-contributions\/?committee_id=C00326801&#038;committee_id=C00457325&#038;committee_id=C00495358&#038;contributor_name=Stephen+Silberstein\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>around<\/a> $56,800 combined over the years from Silberstein, not accounting for donations to Whitehouse, who helped on the document.<\/p>\n<p>Silberstein has also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fec.gov\/data\/receipts\/individual-contributions\/?committee_id=C00413914&#038;committee_id=C00525600&#038;committee_id=C00768762&#038;contributor_name=STEPHEN++SILBERSTEIN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>given<\/a> over $7,700 since 2006 to committees affiliated with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). The New York Democrat and other senators, including Whitehouse, signed on to a 2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/s3.documentcloud.org\/documents\/6294256\/Amici-Whitehouse-Et-Al.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title>brief<\/a> in a firearm-related Supreme Court case that decried how Leo \u201chas been linked to a million-dollar contribution to the NRA\u2019s lobbying arm, and to a $250 million network largely funded by anonymous donors to promote right-wing causes and judicial nominees.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The brief also raised apparent conflict of interest concerns about pro-Second Amendment groups \u201creceiving funding from foundations and other often anonymously funded sources connected to Leonard Leo\u2019s network that regularly fund ideological litigants and amici before this court.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Given Silberstein\u2019s donations to these lawmakers, that logic is \u201crank hypocrisy,\u201d according to Scott Walter, president of the conservative Capital Research Center think tank. <\/p>\n<p>Dave Dulio, director at Oakland University\u2019s Center for Civic Engagement and a political science professor, agreed.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER\">CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cDemocrats often criticize Republicans for having ties to deep-pocketed individuals,\u201d Dulio said. \u201cBut they have their own; what\u2019s good for the goose is good for the gander.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Silberstein did not return a request for comment. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Senate Democrats are probing Leonard Leo and conservative activists for ties to Supreme Court justices after receiving donations from a wealthy businessman supporting organizations linked to the court&#8217;s &#8220;ethics&#8221; campaign, such as ProPublica. Leo, co-chair of the Federalist Society, refused to comply with what he deemed an &#8220;unlawful&#8221; request from Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":381,"featured_media":2222906,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP23047742788420-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2222905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP23047742788420-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2222905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/381"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2222905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2222905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2222906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2222905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2222905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2222905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}