Just a little-known conservative group known as Donors Belief has been making headlines lately after a report revealed that the group spent a whopping $183 million in only one yr. Donors Belief is thought for its steadfast assist of conservative causes and has been linked to many influential conservative activists in the US. The information has raised questions in regards to the political affect of rich donors and the position that organizations like Donors Belief play in shaping American politics.
Donors Belief has been round since 1999 and capabilities as a donor-advised fund, which permits donors to offer cash to the group after which direct these funds to different non-profits that share their values. The group prides itself on being a conservative various to extra mainstream donor-advised funds, which are sometimes related to liberal causes. Donors Belief’s web site states that it exists to “defend and promote the ideas of restricted authorities, free enterprise, and private accountability.”
The group’s annual spending of $183 million is especially notable provided that it’s a comparatively small group. In 2019, the group had simply 619 donors, which signifies that every donor, on common, gave nearly $300,000. Critics of Donors Belief argue that the group’s funding permits rich donors to wield outsized affect on American politics, giving them a technique to funnel cash to conservative organizations and candidates with out having to reveal their identities or particular causes they’re supporting. Supporters of Donors Belief argue that it offers a obligatory avenue for conservative donors to assist causes they consider in with out dealing with backlash or retribution from extra liberal-minded people or organizations.
A brand new tax submitting reveals that Marble Freedom Belief, a deep-pocketed nonprofit group based by conservative activist Leonard A. Leo, gave away $182.7 million in a yr’s time. This demonstrates the group’s aggressive work behind the scenes to prop up different teams and causes on the precise.
Fashioned in 2020, Marble Freedom Belief was funded by a present of over $1.6 billion. The windfall resulted from a single donor’s contribution of one hundred pc of an organization’s shares earlier than the corporate was bought, leaving Marble to obtain the proceeds of the sale, as reported by The New York Occasions final yr.
Mr. Leo, a lawyer and former govt on the Federalist Society, has been instrumental in pushing the federal judiciary to the precise via his direct steerage to Republican leaders and by financing conservative causes. Lately, he has constructed an opaque, far-reaching community of organizations with funding sources that aren’t required to be disclosed. These organizations can affect elections and different issues, together with training coverage, abortion, and campus free speech points.
Responding to questions on Marble’s work, Mr. Leo described it as an try to match Democratic efforts on this planet of so-called darkish cash. This time period describes the huge move of funds, usually from untraceable donors, via nonprofits and different organizations into politics and political causes. Democrats raised and spent extra darkish cash for the 2020 election than Republicans did.
“It’s excessive time for the conservative motion to be among the many ranks of George Soros, Hansjörg Wyss, Arabella Advisors and different left-wing philanthropists, going toe-to-toe within the combat to defend our Structure and its beliefs,” Mr. Leo mentioned.
(Mr. Wyss, a Swiss billionaire, is a serious donor to left-leaning nonprofit teams; Arabella Advisors is a for-profit consulting group that administers a community of progressive nonprofit organizations that collectively spent almost $1.2 billion in 2020.)
Marble Freedom Belief, a tax-exempt 501(c)(4) “social welfare” group, is a centerpiece of Mr. Leo’s community. The group’s said mission is to “preserve and develop human freedom in step with the values and beliefs set forth within the Declaration of Independence and the Structure.”
It was not instantly clear from the group’s report of contributions how Marble was realizing that mission. The latest submitting for Marble — a tax report for the yr ending on April 30, 2022, that was obtained by the liberal transparency group Accountable.US — doesn’t reveal a lot in regards to the final vacation spot of the $182.7 million.
Within the yr ending final April, Marble gave $153.8 million to the Schwab Charitable Fund, a supervisor of donor-advised funds, which permit folks and entities to direct their deposits over time into charitable organizations, together with some politically inclined teams and establishments.
One other $28.9 million went to the Harmony Fund, a conservative advocacy group. Previously often known as the Judicial Disaster Community, the group has acted as a funding hub previously, giving tens of tens of millions of {dollars} in grants to allied nonprofit teams and supporting in-house initiatives, together with opposition to Democrats’ makes an attempt to develop voting entry.
From these two organizations, it’s inconceivable to instantly hint the place the Marble cash went.
Throughout that approximate time interval, in keeping with Schwab’s tax filings, Schwab gave $141.5 million to a different group linked to Mr. Leo, the 85 Fund — a nonprofit group that claims its mission is “to coach the general public and assist actions that spotlight the connection between structural limits on authorities energy and the safety of our dignity and our freedom.”
The 85 Fund backs the Sincere Elections Challenge, a conservative group based in 2020 that has labored in states throughout the nation to limit voting entry.
A number of the cash that flows via Mr. Leo’s community of nonprofit teams goes to for-profit firms he controls. In 2021, the 85 Fund paid $21.75 million to CRC Advisors, a consulting agency run by Mr. Leo, in keeping with the 85 Fund’s tax filings.
A number of different entities in Mr. Leo’s community, together with the Harmony Fund, have additionally paid CRC Advisors tens of millions of {dollars} within the final two years, tax information present.
“Marble Freedom Belief is Leonard Leo’s billion-dollar slush fund to erode democracy,” mentioned Kyle Herrig, the president of Accountable.US. “With all this cash beneath his management, Leo can push his excessive agenda by influencing conservative lawmakers on Capitol Hill, deploying state attorneys common to do his bidding and transferring excessive payments in state legislatures.”
In a press release, Mr. Leo mentioned that CRC Advisors “employs almost 100 best-in-class professionals whose experience goes throughout all facets of public affairs, and we ship outcomes which can be main the conservative motion to win greater than it has ever earlier than.”
Marble’s grants final yr declined barely from the earlier yr, when the group reported almost $229 million in grants, together with to Harmony and the 85 Fund.
Because the $1.6 billion windfall — which got here from Barre Seid, an electronics manufacturing mogul — Marble has obtained no contributions or grants, but it surely did report $26.6 million in funding revenue final yr. As of a couple of yr in the past, Marble nonetheless had $1.2 billion to spend.
Marble’s tax submitting additionally reveals that Mr. Leo’s wage for his part-time position on the firm elevated to $400,000 from $350,000.
Mr. Leo’s work, and his longtime relationship with Justice Clarence Thomas, have come beneath new scrutiny lately. The Washington Submit reported final week that Mr. Leo had organized for Justice Thomas’s spouse, the conservative activist Ginni Thomas, to be paid tens of 1000’s of {dollars} for consulting work, and had urged to maintain her title off the paperwork.
In a press release, Mr. Leo mentioned the cost didn’t current a battle of curiosity with the courtroom. “It’s no secret that Ginni Thomas has a protracted historical past of engaged on points inside the conservative motion,” he mentioned. “The work she did right here didn’t contain something related with both the courtroom’s enterprise or with different authorized points.”
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Originally posted 2023-05-12 09:18:18.