Date: 2025-07-02 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00025758
ABOUT ...
LEONARD LEE
An American lawyer, co-chairman of the board at the Federalist Society, wealthy supporter of right wing causes including appointment of judges.
LEONARD LEE
An American lawyer, co-chairman of the board at the Federalist Society, wealthy supporter of right wing causes including appointment of judges.
Leonard Lee
Original article: https://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Leonard_Leo See also: TVM #txt00025757
Peter Burgess COMMENTARY
Leonard Lee works quietly but has been very effective in framing the United States to have a more 'conservative' leadership establishment, especially the judicial establishment.
Peter Burgess
Leonard Leo is an American lawyer, co-chairman of the board at the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, and chairman of CRC Advisors. The Federalist Society is funded by right-wing foundations, including Milwaukee's Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and the Charles G. Koch Foundation, to move America's legal establishment and jurisprudence to the right. Leo has been a leader in the effort by the Judicial Crisis Network, the Kochs' Americans for Prosperity group, the Tea Party Patriots, and other libertarian and far right groups and funders (including the secretive Wellspring Committee) to advance a conservative judiciary at the federal and state level. Read more on these ties below.
For decades, Leo has worked quietly behind the scenes to organize a right-wing take over of the U.S. Supreme Court. In recent years, he has mobilized millions of dollars in secret dark money for massive PR efforts and grassroots mobilization to block President Obama's 2016 pick for the court, Merrick Garland, as well as to advance President Trump's picks of Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. He was also instrumental in the selections of Justices Samuel Alito and John Roberts to the high court.
As of July 6, 2018, the Federalist Society website states that Leo is on leave[1] as he prepares to spearhead the campaign for Brett Kavanaugh, who holds extreme views on choice, birth control, and the Affordable Care Act in line with Federalist Society positions. Leo served in several government positions, including as President George W. Bush's advisor on Catholic issues in the 2004 presidential campaign. President Bush later named him to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. He is reportedly a member of the right-wing Catholic organization Opus Dei.[2]
Leo is primarily known for his extreme right-wing views and his effective mobilization of right-wing money sources to impact the court in recent decades. Former Attorney General Edwin Meese stated, 'He has contact with literally dozens, maybe even hundreds, of people throughout the country who are very knowledgeable about the federal judiciary.'[3] As the executive vice president of the Federalist Society, Leo was instrumental in the selection and confirmation processes for Supreme Court Justices John Roberts, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch.[4] Following the announcement of Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement, numerous reports confirmed Leo's active involvement in the search for a replacement (see below).
In addition to his leadership at the Federalist Society, Leo exercises significant control over the Judicial Crisis Network, which campaigns for right-wing judges, as well as the Beckett Fund law firm, which brought the Hobby Lobby case allowing private employers to deny contraceptive coverage to female employees, pursues right-wing causes in the name of 'religious liberty.' He also plays an active role in admissions and hiring at the George Mason Law School, which he was active in helping rename in memory of Justice Antonin Scalia.[4]