The dark money network, led by conservative Supreme Court architect Leonard Leo, misrepresents and misleads Kansas ballot measures to “give women a choice” when in reality they would repeal the state’s abortion protections. was funding a non-profit organization that funded a text message campaign inviting
The new tax documents show how Leo’s network influences state abortion policy, drawing on Leo’s historic $1.6 billion black-fund fund after last year’s Supreme Court ruling was overturned. It suggests that they have been secretly working to influence. Law vs Wade and end federal protections for abortion rights. As a legal adviser to President Donald Trump, Leo helped select three of the six justices who make up the conservative majority of the Supreme Court.
Between July 2021 and June 2022, the Leo network donated $1.7 million to the conservative Catholic advocacy group CatholicVote Civic Action, according to new tax returns obtained by the Leo network. lever.
The donation came at a time when CatholicVote Civic Action was funding a campaign to support Kansas’ ballot measure aimed at removing the state’s constitutional protection for abortion rights.ballot paper measurement It would have asserted that “Kansas has no constitutional right to abortion” and would have given the state legislature “the right to pass laws regulating abortion.”
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Political Action Committee funded by Do Right PAC, CatholicVote Civic Action, Send text messages to Kansas voters On the eve of last summer’s elections, passing the bill would end national protections for abortion rights, while voting “yes” on the ballot measure “gives women choice” and “women’s health.” It gave the false impression that
PAC too paid for TV advertising Featuring Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, the amendment would “leave it to the state of Kansas, not judges or politicians in Washington, D.C., to decide what to do about abortions.”
A spokeswoman for Leo did not respond to questions. lever.
Rep. Tim Huelskamp (Republican, Kansas) Senior Political Advisor Participated in CatholicVote Civic Action and led Do Right PAC. CatholicVote Civic Action donated $500,000 of the $556,000 raised by PAC last year.
Hulskamp did not respond to a request for comment.
Despite these efforts, the Kansas effort failed decisively, 41 to 59 percent, providing an early foreshadowing of how anti-abortion efforts could fail. 2022 state elections.Recently, a Kansas Republican override Democratic Governor Laura Kelly has vetoed some anti-abortion measures, leaving abortion legal in the state. 22 weeks.
The Leo Network donation to CatholicVote Civic Action was made through the Concord Fund, a conservative advocacy group that spent tens of millions of dollars approving the three Supreme Court nominees that Leo helped select as former Trump counsel. .
The Concord Fund raised $29 million from July 2021 to June 2022, according to tax records. All of the funding appears to come from Leo’s Marble Freedom Trust.As lever and pro publica Last year, the trust received an unprecedented $1.6 billion cash injection courtesy of Chicago surge protector giant Barre Said.
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New tax filings show how Leo is using the Concord Fund to imprint a conservative vision on both politics and policy.
The disclosure shows that the Concord Fund donated $3 million to One Nation, the Senate Republican black money arm. One Nation, which backs Republican senator candidates, aired an ad backing the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018.
Separately, the Concord Foundation donated nearly $1 million to the Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion advocacy group. pressed supreme court overturns Law vs Wade. The organization has been an outspoken advocate of anti-voting laws passed by Republican lawmakers across the country.
Records show that the Concord Fund is also a shadowy finance group chaired by former Vice President Mike Pence and serving as his “awaited campaign” ahead of his 2024 presidential candidacy. He donated $500,000 to Advancing American Freedom. Politico.
In 2021, Advancing American Freedom filed a court order simplyor filed by a friend of the court and forced the Supreme Court to overturn Law vs Wade – Warns that “free access to abortion” is leading to “increasing family instability and single-parent households, many of which are living in poverty, as family formation declines.”
This year, the organization submitted the following report: simply We’re screwed Seek approval from the Superior Court of the Texas District Court Ruling Designed to ban commonly used abortion drugs. The Supreme Court stayed the lower court’s ruling in April, allowing the Court of Appeals to consider the case first, but it is widely expected that the case will eventually return to the High Court.
The Concord Fund has long been a major funder of the Republican Association of Attorneys General, which elects Republican Attorneys General, according to data compiled by CQ Rollcall’s Political Moneyline, which gave the group over 6.5 million dollars during the last election. donated dollars.
These Attorneys General have regularly filed lawsuits and submitted briefs to the Supreme Court asking them to issue precedent-breaking rulings. For example, Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization A case in which a judge in the Supreme Court overturned federal protections for abortion rights.
The Concord Foundation also reported that it has donated $750,000 to the lobbying arm of the Government Accountability Foundation. The foundation has led the fight to enact new and expanded working requirements for various social safety net programs.
President Joe Biden’s recent debt ceiling deal with House Republicans includes some of these expanded labor requirements at the request of Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California).
