Leo is well-known for shepherding conservative judicial nominees, but the public relations campaign shows how he has continued to exert influence in support of right-leaning justices after helping them secure lifetime appointments....
by Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott & Alex Mierjeski @ProPublica
#Thomas has attended at least two #Koch donor summits, putting him in the extraordinary position of having helped a #political network that has brought multiple #cases before the #SupremeCourt.
Since we now know Alito was flying his flag upside down at the time, let’s review one of the plans the coup plotters had involving him.
This interview by criminal defendant Powell is interesting. It suggests that the purpose of the insurrection was to DELAY the electoral college certification to give #Alito time to intervene on this legal challenge. But, Powell says they didn’t anticipate Pelosi reconvening Congress that day.
Crimal defendant Powell is interesting. It suggests that the purpose of the insurrection was to DELAY the electoral college certification to give #scotus#Alito time to intervene on this legal challenge. But, Powell says they didn’t anticipate Speaker Pelosi reconvening Congress.
Remember when John Eastman admitted his proposals to nullify the 2020 election would lose at #SCOTUS 7-2?
The two Eastman was counting on for the insurrection were Thomas (atop the 11th circuit where they filed a lawsuit in Georgia) and Alito (atop the 5th circuit where they filed a lawsuit in Texas). That’s according to under-oath testimony from Pence’s lawyer. 2/
The Dishonorable, InJustices #Alito and #Thomas prove that they are unqualified for any legal office by their childish, selfish, unethical, grifter, illogical, against the law, defenses of their criminal behavior. They cannot be trusted to properly apply the law to ANY decision before the court! They must resign or be removed! #Politics
How Leonard Leo Weaponized the Courts Against Democracy | The Nation
The Federalist Society, formed in 1982, was the perfect vehicle for forging a right-wing legal cadre and funneling it into the legal system.
Leonard Leo joined the Federalist Society in 1986, forming a chapter of the group at Cornell where he was studying law.
As he rose in the ranks, Leo was an important player in the political campaigns to win Senate approval for Supreme Court justices such as Clarence #Thomas, John #Roberts, and Samuel #Alito.
During the Bush administration, when the Department of Justice wanted to “launder and distribute” a white paper in support of a contentious nominee, they turned to Leo.
Viet Dinh, a Department of Justice official who was also a prominent member of the Federalist Society, e-mailed, ”Tell len leo [sic] I need this distributed asap.”
The Federalist Society was thus organically tied to the Republican Party:
When nominees ran into headwinds, Leo would lead the charge with media campaigns to rally support.
By 2016, the role of the Federalist Society as the essential gatekeeper of Republican judicial nominees was recognized by presidential candidate #Trump, who promised the right-wing base, “We’re going to have great judges, conservative, all picked by the Federalist Society.”
The network Leo brought together comprises three cords:
♦️the GOP (which needed conservative judges),
♦️the legal profession (where young lawyers were hungry for a pathway to judges),
♦️and plutocratic donors (eager for judges that supported plutocracy and right-wing politics).
💰Money was a crucial component of this network.
George Conway, a former Republican who had been active in the Federalist Society, told ProPublica,
“There was always a concern that Scalia or Thomas would say, ‘Fuck it,’ and quit the job and go make way more money at Jones Day [a big law firm] or somewhere else.
Part of what Leonard does is he tries to keep them happy so they stay on the job.”
This explains the luxurious lifestyle enjoyed by right-wing judges as they vacation and cavort with robber barons such as Harlan #Crow and Paul #Singer.
The judges get to enjoy the lifestyle of the 1 percent despite earning a government salary.
While the Supreme Court is the big prize, the conservative legal movement that Leo forged worked to reshape lower courts as well as state courts, helping to promote not just right-wing judges but also district attorneys.
Sometimes the lobbying was demagogic. Politico reports,
Leo became interested in Wisconsin in 2008.
An incumbent state Supreme Court justice, Louis #Butler, had angered the state’s largest business group with his ruling in a lead paint case.
The ensuing ad campaign was contentious and expensive, featuring commercials showing Butler, who is Black, next to the picture of a sex offender who was also Black.
The #racist demagoguery of that judicial race is of a piece with the way Republican jurists have so often worked to curtail voting rights.
The whole claim that #originalism was meant to enhance democracy has been revealed as a fraud.
The same #antidemocratic tendency can be seen in the way the court is working to limit president Biden’s agenda, as in the recent decision in
👉Biden v. Nebraska overturning student debt relief—a measure that was in the Democratic Party platform when Biden won the election.
The goal was to create an ideologically committed faction that could dominate the courts and advance its agenda without democratic check.
"While recent debates center on enacting an ethics code for the Supreme Court, the statutory honoraria ban has been in place for decades. No new ethical rules need to be promulgated, or codes enacted on this subject. It exists right now, as it has since 1989. But Thomas and Leo are doing an end run around it, accomplishing indirectly what the law prohibits them from doing directly. And no one is stopping them."
"…Thomas is saying, No, I may not take a fee for speaking at a dinner sponsored by the Koch bros; heaven forbid I violate the…honorarium ban! But of course: Nothing stops you, Koch bros, from lavishing me w/a trip to Palm Springs in a private plane, sumptuous accommodations, & fabulous meals,…there is nothing wrong w/conservative billionaires enabling Thomas to have a lifestyle far beyond what his judicial salary allows."
"…version of Congress we had 23 yrs ago might have gone ballistic in response to recent discoveries about Thomas. If…concerned about…judges getting money for honoraria…surely would’ve been…evading the honoraria ban w/luxury vacations. If…worried about rich benefactors paying judges for their speeches…would surely be…about rich benefactors providing judges w/private planes & high-end accommodations."
Toxic partisan politics is corrupting every segment of society, bit by bit, from civilian life to government to church to media to education and everything in-between, eating away at it all, like a cancer.
"Clarence Thomas Complains About ‘Awful’ People After His Ethics Scandals"
"Alito’s misconduct also brings Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who heads an entire branch of government, to an inflection point. If he does nothing, Roberts is complicit in the destruction of the court’s reputation. Such spinelessness might even snatch from Roger B. Taney, the author of the majority opinion in Dred Scott, the title of “worst chief justice ever.”" https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/05/26/alito-durbin-supreme-court/
I believe they are fascists or at least on friendly terms with fascists. I believe they've broken laws and are a threat to my life and the lives of my children.
I believe the US government may not be equipped to bring them to justice and that too is a crime.
I will never wish violence on them. I will never wish cancer on them.
Dark Money - Clarence Thomas got a personal media campaign worth at least $1.8 million from conservative nonprofit groups led by lobbyist Leonard Leo, part of $1.6 billion in donated by Barre Seid to Leo. (www.washingtonpost.com)
Leo is well-known for shepherding conservative judicial nominees, but the public relations campaign shows how he has continued to exert influence in support of right-leaning justices after helping them secure lifetime appointments....