Create accountLogin

Recent searches

No recent searches

Search options

Only available when logged in.
shakedown.social is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
A community for live music fans with roots in the jam scene. Shakedown Social is run by a team of volunteers (led by @clifff and @sethadam1) and funded by donations.

Administered by:

Server stats:

286
active users

shakedown.social: AboutStatusProfiles directoryPrivacy policy

Mastodon: AboutGet the appKeyboard shortcutsView source codev4.3.4

#bader

0 posts0 participants0 posts today
Chuck Darwin<p>Leonard Leo typically operates in the background and goes to considerable lengths to cover his philanthropic tracks. </p><p>Each year, his groups send millions through <a href="https://c.im/tags/DonorsTrust" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>DonorsTrust</span></a>, <br>which markets itself as a “principled philanthropic partner for conservative and libertarian donors” <br>and a means to anonymously fund “sensitive or controversial issues.”</p><p>Deep-pocketed benefactors like Leo can tell DonorsTrust where they want their money to ultimately go. </p><p>Its board of directors will “always respect grant requests that fall within the DonorsTrust mission and purpose,” per its website.</p><p>DonorsTrust declined to discuss the specifics of any contributions identified by The Intercept. </p><p>“We do not release to the general public either the names of our accountholders nor specific grants that they may have recommended,” said Lawson <a href="https://c.im/tags/Bader" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Bader</span></a>, its president and CEO. </p><p>Bader noted that some of the contributions listed on DonorsTrust’s tax filings may have originated from multiple donors.</p><p>But Leo’s funding vehicles <br>— especially the <a href="https://c.im/tags/Marble" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Marble</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Freedom" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Freedom</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Trust" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Trust</span></a> and the <a href="https://c.im/tags/85Fund" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>85Fund</span></a>, <br>which he rebranded in 2020 and likely bankrolls via yet another donor-advised fund <br>— are among the biggest contributors to DonorsTrust.</p><p>In 2022, the 85 Fund sent $92 million through DonorsTrust, <br>more than a quarter of all contributions to DonorsTrust that year. </p><p>Marble Freedom Trust has distributed more than $41 million via DonorsTrust, according to a filing for its 2020 fiscal year. </p><p>The Rule of Law Trust, also run by Leo, gave $5.8 million via DonorsTrust in 2020.</p><p>Beside Leo’s groups, other top contributors to DonorsTrust include <a href="https://c.im/tags/Rebekah" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Rebekah</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Mercer" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Mercer</span></a> of Cambridge Analytica and Parler fame, <br>whose Mercer Family Foundation gave $31 million in 2022. </p><p>Mercer and other top contributors to DonorsTrust did not respond to The Intercept’s questions for this article.</p><p>Whether from Leo or other sources, conservative money has been already flowing to law schools via DonorsTrust for years, mostly to premiere programs. </p><p>Since 2019, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Yale" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Yale</span></a> Law School has received $250,000 per year for the “Diversity in Democracy Professorship Fund”; <br>Yale declined to explain the purpose of this fund or say whether these contributions came from Leo. </p><p>New York University Law School received $350,000 in 2021 and $300,000 in 2022 for a libertarian research institute. <br><a href="https://c.im/tags/NYU" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NYU</span></a> also declined to provide additional details about the source of these contributions. </p><p>And since 2020, <a href="https://c.im/tags/Stanford" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Stanford</span></a>’s student chapter of the Federalist Society received $25,000 per year. <br>Stanford referred questions to the Federalist Society and DonorsTrust.</p><p>There were also millions sent to George Mason University’s <a href="https://c.im/tags/Scalia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Scalia</span></a> Law School, <br>which Leo helped make one of the gravitational centers for conservative legal academia. </p><p>Since 2017, Scalia Law School received at least $4 million each year via DonorsTrust, </p><p>much of it earmarked for its Law &amp; Economics Center, which puts on often lavish doctrinal bootcamps for judges, one of which was held in Leo’s literal backyard.<br><a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/05/29/leonard-leo-donor-law-schools/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">theintercept.com/2024/05/29/le</span><span class="invisible">onard-leo-donor-law-schools/</span></a></p>
Chuck Darwin<p>Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal is turning up the heat on Supreme Court Justice <a href="https://c.im/tags/Sonia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Sonia</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Sotomayor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Sotomayor</span></a> to step down while Democrats can select her replacement.<br>Speaking with NBC’s Sahil Kapur for a story published Wednesday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) made a veiled reference to the late Justice <a href="https://c.im/tags/Ruth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Ruth</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Bader" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Bader</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Ginsburg" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Ginsburg</span></a><br> — who ignored calls to step down for years during former President Barack Obama’s tenure. <br>She passed away in 2020, with former President Donald Trump choosing her successor.<br>“I’m very respectful of Justice Sotomayor,” Blumenthal told NBC. “I have great admiration for her. <br>But I think she really has to weigh the competing factors. We should learn a lesson. <br>And it’s not like there’s any mystery here about what the lesson should be. The old saying <br>— graveyards are full of indispensable people, ourselves in this body included.”</p><p>The idea of the 69-year-old Sotomayor stepping down has gained momentum in recent days. <br>Former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan made the argument for the justice to retire in a recent column for The Guardian.<br>“Wouldn’t a replacement for Sotomayor that Senator Joe Manchin has to approve be less progressive, and more centrist, than our sole Latina, super-progressive justice?” Hasan wrote.<br> “Perhaps. But, again, consider the alternative. Would we rather Biden replace Sotomayor with a centrist in 2024 … or Trump replace her with a far-right Federalist Society goon in 2025?”</p><p><a href="https://www.mediaite.com/news/dem-senator-turns-up-the-heat-on-justice-sotomayor-to-retire-graveyards-are-full-of-indispensable-people/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">mediaite.com/news/dem-senator-</span><span class="invisible">turns-up-the-heat-on-justice-sotomayor-to-retire-graveyards-are-full-of-indispensable-people/</span></a></p>
ExploreLive feeds
About