There’s no direct documentation showing what the two groups did with that $182.7 million but records from the groups show that the Schwab Fund gave $141.5 million to The 85 Fund during the same time frame. The 85 Fund, by the way, is another Leo project that in turn funds an entire network of groups Leo has set up. That includes the Honest Elections Project, a voter suppression campaign group. In 2021, The 85 Fund paid $21.75 million to the for-profit CRC Advisors consulting firm. Guess who runs it? If you guessed Leonard Leo, you’re catching on to how all this works.
“Several other entities in Mr. Leo’s network, including the Concord Fund,” the Times reports, “have also paid CRC Advisors millions of dollars in the last two years, tax records show.” Leo is doing quite well thanks to the beneficence of his other billionaire pals (like Harlan Crow!).
In his statement to the Times, Leo said that CRC Advisors “employs nearly 100 best-in-class professionals whose expertise goes across all aspects of public affairs, and we deliver results that are leading the conservative movement to win more than it has ever before.” That’s hard to dispute given that Leo has helped conservatives secure a massive chunk of the federal judiciary over the years, with the Supreme Court as the cherry on top.
If there’s a supervillain in American politics today, it is Leonard Leo. If there’s a shadier—but completely legal—dark money deal than the $1.6 billion Marble endowment, you’d be hard-pressed to find it.
Here’s how it worked: Barre Seid, “an electronics manufacturing mogul,” donated 100% of the shares of Tripp Lite, his electrical device manufacturing company, to Leo’s new dark money group, Marble Freedom Trust. Right after the donation of those shares, the company sold to an Irish-American conglomerate called Eaton for $1.65 billion. Tripp Lite is a private company that doesn’t have to disclose financials. Eaton is a publicly-traded multinational that is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The proceeds of the sale went entirely to Marble Freedom Trust, which allowed Seid to avoid paying taxes on that $1.65 billion.
In one deal, you get a billionaire dodging his taxes and a slush fund for Leo to enrich himself personally, while buying off a very big chunk of the Republican Party (looking at you, “moderate” Sen. Susan Collins!), which in turn keeps giving him judges who in turn aid him in his ambition to take over the country.
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The data is in: Americans don’t like Republican policies on abortion. Kerry is joined by Drew Linzer, the director and co-founder of the well-regarded polling company Civiqs. Drew and Kerry do a deep dive into the polling around abortion and reproductive rights and the big problems conservative candidates face in the coming elections.
