Allies of #Leonard #Leo have mounted a months long offensive against the man investigating the judicial activist’s network:
Washington, D.C., Attorney General #Brian #Schwalb.
Since news of the probe broke last August, the GOP chairs of powerful congressional committees launched their own investigation of Schwalb’s investigation;
conservative media wrote articles criticizing Schwalb on unrelated crime issues
— based on a social media post from a top Leo lieutenant;
and a group of his Republican law enforcement peers sent letters warning Schwalb to stand down.
Leo is the Federalist Society co-chair who has been called former President Donald Trump’s
“court whisperer” for helping to choose and advocate for his Supreme Court nominees.
His aligned network of tax-exempt nonprofits is also a major contributor to #Project2025, an initiative seeking to create a “government in waiting” for another Trump term.
The white-hot pressure campaign targeting Schwalb attests to the growing range of Leo’s influence.
Beyond its work in promoting the conservative legal movement, his billion-dollar network of nonprofits has funded conservative media, Republican attorneys general and the campaign funds of leading congressional figures.
Jordan and Comer’s intervention in a law-enforcement probe angered activist groups that have long scrutinized his network.
“Leonard Leo is working to implement policies with a vision that’s far too extreme for most Americans.
Now, members of Congress have weaponized their government power against his critics,” said Caroline Ciccone, president of Accountable.US, a progressive watchdog group.
Project 2025’s manifesto promises to defund the Department of Justice,
dismantle the FBI,
break up the Department of Homeland Security
and eliminate the Departments of Education and Commerce.
“Leo may consider himself to be beyond scrutiny, but he isn’t. He and his network must be held to the same standards as everyday Americans,” said Ciccone
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/23/brian-schwalb-leonard-leo-investigation-00148385