Scoop: Activist Leonard Leo pushes to "weaponize" conservatives
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Conservative activist Leonard Leo, center, at a Federalist Society dinner last year in Washington. Photo: Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Leonard Leo, the conservative activist with an estimated $1 billion at his disposal, is threatening to withhold money from the dozens of groups he supports unless they develop plans to "weaponize" their ideas.
Why it matters: Leo's call for conservative groups to get more aggressive will send shockwaves through the right-wing ecosystem he helped create.
- Leo wants less conversation and more action — fewer seminars and more campaigns — as part of a plan to "crush liberal dominance at the choke points of influence and power in our society," he told the groups in a letter obtained by Axios.
- The goal should be to direct "funding to operationalize or weaponize the conservative vision," Leo wrote.
Zoom in: Leo, 59, is telling organizations backed by his 85 Fund that he's undertaking a "comprehensive review" of his grant-making process.
- His letter doesn't mention any specific groups by name, but they know who they are.
- Groups such as Teneo, Honest Elections Project, Consumers's Research and Do No Harm are examples of organizations that have adopted the kind of aggressive tactics Leo encourages, according to a source close to the 85 Fund.
- Those groups have run campaigns that have achieved measurable results, such as Consumers' Research's work on ESG investing, which has been featured in congressional hearings.
- Decisions about future funding will be shared with the groups by the end of November, Leo's letter said.
Zoom out: Leo helped build the Federalist Society, an organization for conservative law students, into an incubator for lawyers and judges that reshape the federal judiciary and American society.
- He helped former President Trump select three conservative jurists for the Supreme Court — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. They've transformed federal law on issues ranging from abortion rights (overturning Roe v. Wade) to federal rule-making.
- In 2022, the New York Times revealed how a nonprofit Leo controls, the Marble Freedom Trust, received a $1.6 billion contribution from a conservative donor, Barre Seid, who gifted the shares of the company he founded before they were sold.
- Leo has an estimated $1 billion left to spend, according to the Financial Times. Leo, who is credited with the initial $1.6 billion windfall to Marble Freedom Trust, has been responsible for raising donations and support for the 85 Fund.
Between the lines: Behind Leo's new push is his admiration for what he views as successes of progressive nonprofit groups such as The Wyss Foundation and the Berger Action Fund, supported by Hansjörg Wyss.
- He is also convinced that liberal organizations and ideas have captured most influential institutions in government, media, entertainment and academia.
- "They invested in talent pipelines to populate the power centers inside government, where policy would be implemented," Leo writes. "They incubated litigation as a means of leveraging the law to produce change."
The other side: As Leo's prominence and influence have increased, his methods and his conservative network have drawn scrutiny — and provoked outrage — in progressive circles.
