IRS SHOULD INVESTIGATE LEONARD LEO’S RIGHT-WING JUDICIAL SHADOW NETWORK

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (March 1, 2022) — A new Politico report today reveals that extreme right-wing judicial activist Leonard Leo’s network of dark money groups shifted at least $43 million to a new Leo firm, raising serious questions about the operation — and Leo’s troubling connections to the Supreme Court’s conservative justices, including Justice Clarence Thomas.

“Leonard Leo’s right-wing court packing network has always been shady. But the bombshell report that Leo pocketed millions while Donald Trump outsourced Supreme Court nominations to him raises massive questions about the corruption of our nation’s highest court,” said Sarah Lipton-Lubet, president of Take Back the Court Action Fund. “The IRS must immediately investigate Leo and his swath of judicial nonprofits for misconduct and violations. The safety of our democracy depends on it.”

Lipton-Lubet continued:“It’s also no surprise that Justice Thomas is caught up at the center of all this — whenever there’s an ethics scandal, it’s a safe bet that Thomas’ fingerprints are all over it. This is exactly why we need a code of ethics at our nation’s highest court — and why we must add four more justices to the bench who actually care about the Court’s integrity and independence.”

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