A prominent advocacy group in conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo’s network paid millions to his consulting firm, a new document shows, the latest example of Leo’s network of nonprofits sending money to his business amid scrutiny government about its negotiations.
The Concord Fund, a Virginia-based nonprofit, paid $6 million to Leo’s company CRC Advisors between July 2022 and the end of June 2023 for “Consulting,” according to the document provided to POLITICO by left-wing watchdog group Accountable.US. The revelations of the large sum transferred to Leo’s company come amid growing questions surrounding Leo’s advocacy activities and whether he stands to gain financially from nonprofit groups promoting a conservative agenda across the country.
D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb has been investigating Leo’s network, which includes the Concord Fund, as part of an investigation into whether the groups skirted nonprofit rules. Leo promised not to cooperate.
In recent years, Leo, co-chair of the board of the Federalist Society, has amassed outsized influence in conservative legal circles, advising former President Donald Trump on judicial choices. This role also brought additional scrutiny to his financial activities.
He also got a huge Donation of US$1.6 billion from businessman Barre Seid to fund Leo’s agenda through a group called the Marble Freedom Trust. The Marble Freedom Trust, which counts Leo as trustee and president, transferred tens of millions of dollars to the Concord Fund. The Concord Fund also paid millions to Leo’s for-profit businesses.
Between July 2022 and the end of June 2023, the Concord Fund, also known as the Judicial Crisis Network, received about $52.8 million. Between May 2022 and the end of April 2023, Marble Freedom Trust reported donating US$55.5 million to the Concord Fund.
Schwalb, a Democrat, questioned whether the Leo groups’ activities violate nonprofit tax laws. Republican members of Congress have launched their own inquiry into the attorney general’s investigation. Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and James Comer (R-Ky.), chairmen of the House Judiciary and Oversight Committees, respectively, requested documents related to their investigation.
The Concord Fund reported spending $140,000 to lobby Congress on “issues related to government oversight, law enforcement, public defense and the rule of law” since registering to lobby in late 2023, not long after the news of the investigation has been released.
Carrie Severino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network (a pseudonym for the Concord Fund), did not immediately return a request for comment.
Through lawyers, CRC Counsel denied that anything on the 990 provided evidence of “self-enrichment.” In a statement, the company called Politico’s coverage “hopelessly biased” and “unreliable.”
The Concord Fund’s request also illustrates how the funding organization has funded nationwide efforts to prevent access to abortion through other groups, including one fighting a constitutional change in Ohio that protected access to the procedure.
The Concord Fund donated $8.8 million to Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a prominent anti-abortion group, along with $3 million to Protect Women Ohio Action, a group fighting the constitutional amendment in Ohio that enshrined access to abortion. The amendment was finally approved.
The Concord Fund also donated $6 million to the Republican Governors Association and $4 million to the Republican Attorneys General Association. He gave another $3 million to a group that supported the Republican candidate for governor of Kentucky, David Cameron, who ended up losing.
The large donation to the Republican Attorneys General Association is notable, in part, because several Republican attorneys general also questioned Schwalb’s inquiry into Leo.
The Concord Fund also gave $500,000 each to a Florida political committee then called Friends of Ron DeSantis and a nonprofit founded by former Vice President Mike Pence called Advancing American Freedom. He also donated $300,000 to a non-profit organization founded by former presidential candidate and US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley.
Responsible.US President Caroline Ciccone criticized the Concord Fund, calling it an important part of Leo’s machinery for transferring money to his own business.
“Leonard Leo’s Concord Fund is at the center of his far-right dark money web and is a key player in Leo’s apparent self-enrichment scheme,” Ciccone said.
In its financial document, the Concord Fund said it produced “radio and television advertisements on significant legal and civic issues, court packing, executive branch appointments, federalism and civic accountability.” It also reported paying about $3.8 million to media buying firm Mentzer Media for “Advocacy,” but CRC Advisors was Concord Fund’s largest independent contractor by millions of dollars.
Fund 85, also part of the Schwalb investigation, paid $21 million to Leo’s consulting firm in 2022.
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