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Leonard Leo: Mr. MAGA
Leonard Leo is the driving force behind the MAGA agenda to strip Americans of their rights, erode democracy, and reward special interests. In the process, he enriches himself and his allies.
He was MAGA even before Donald Trump.
But as soon as Trump emerged as the front-runner in the 2016 presidential contest, Leonard Leo seized on the opportunity and pulled the strings behind closed doors. He found his way into the Trump inner circle and later orchestrated a financial windfall for Trump’s senior advisor Kellyanne Conway. Once inside, he enacted the MAGA agenda: stacking the federal judiciary using his dark money network, including the Supreme Court, with extreme right-wing activists like Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
We’re feeling the effects of Leo’s decades long court capture campaign today - from bankrolling the attorneys general who successfully overturned Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan to politically and financially backing various anti- LGBT groups involved in the challenge to Colorado’s anti-discrimination law. Because of Leo and his hand-picked Justices, Americans now have fewer rights and more debt.
Leo’s fingerprints are on every part of the political process, too. His conservative nonprofits push voter suppression laws and lay the groundwork to further restrict abortion access across the country. Leo’s MAGA machine supports right-wing attorneys general that challenge laws he doesn’t like, funds right-wing organizations to make the legal arguments to overturn laws he doesn’t like, and then stacks the courts with right-wing judges who rule the way he likes. In the end, he gets what he wants and erodes our democratic system in the process.
With his recent $1.6 billion windfall, Leo and his MAGA allies are advancing a dangerous agenda– restricting reproductive rights, overturning free and fair elections, and ensuring fossil fuel companies rake in profits while the climate crisis rages - and they're using shady practices to get rich at the same time.
ISSUES & RESEARCH
Our investigative research exposes Leo’s central role in the MAGA movement, the radical right-wing shift of the Republican party. So how did Leo marshal the MAGA agenda?
Leo operates a growing web of nonprofits infusing millions into campaigns and judicial nominations.
His nonprofits support right-wing advocacy and lobbying, fund campaigns for ballot measures, and provide air cover for norm-breaking judicial nominations. And now that he has access to a billion-dollar bank account, who knows what he’ll come after next.”
Leo always makes sure his buddies are getting a cut.
In one case, while longtime Leo associate Scott Pruitt was working to gut the EPA from the inside, Leo helped his wife Marlyn Pruitt get a job at one of his non-profits, the Judicial Crisis Network. More recently, Jonathan Bunch, the co-owner of CRC Advisors, was paid $1.5 million for “consulting” by Rule of Law Trust. The kicker? Bunch reported working 47-hour weeks for other groups in Leo’s network.
Leo’s been at the center of the right-wing’s court capture campaign since the very beginning.
He’s the architect of a decades-long strategy to stack the court, manipulate the judicial process to strip Americans of their most basic constitutional rights, and protect his wealthy donors. Learn more on Monitoring Influence.
Leo was crucial in mainstreaming anti-democratic sentiments and election denialism in the Republican party.
He’s working to erode American democracy and clear the way for MAGA Republicans to overturn the next election by funding grassroots “election integrity” groups and intervening in Moore v. Harper. Leo and his cronies think they would do a better job picking the next president than the American voters. Learn more in Mother Jones and our new report on the so-called Honest Elections Project.
Leo makes running a nonprofit very profitable for himself and his friends.
In the past five years, Leo and his for-profit firms have taken in at least $27 million from his vast network of right-wing “nonprofits.” Who knows how much of the $1.6 billion dark money slush fund is already lining his pockets? Learn more about his shady dealings with Kellyanne Conway in POLITICO.
Leo is dedicated to kneecapping environmental protection and climate action.
His nonprofits are working to block any action to mitigate the impacts of climate change, protect his donors in the fossil fuel industry, and dismantle the EPA. His next target? Leo’s own corporate allies engaging in ESG-related work. Learn more in the New York Times.
Leo orchestrated the decades-long campaign to overturn Roe v. Wade.
He’s been pivotal in moving every piece on the chess board: selecting anti-choice judges for two Presidents, challenging abortion rights at all levels of government, and bankrolling anti-choice advocacy. Now, he has his sights set on restricting access to abortion pills and waging anti-abortion battles nationwide. Learn more in our report on Leo’s Post-Roe campaign.
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ABOUT US
We’re here to hold Leonard Leo, his network, and the corrupt special interests he serves accountable. Our investigative research exposes Leo as the architect of the right-wing agenda and highlights the money he’s raking in from his nonprofit shell game. We’ve launched a campaign to shed light on his vast network of influence, corrupt personal dealings, and extreme activism.
LeonardLeo.org is a project of Accountable.US, a nonpartisan organization that shines a light on corporations and special interests that too often wield unchecked power and influence in Washington and beyond.
