Watchdog Accuses Several Exempt Orgs of Operating for LL’s Private Benefit
Accountable.US is a nonpartisan, 501(c)3 organization that shines a light on special interests that too often wield unchecked power and influence in Washington and beyond. We conduct in-depth investigations to expose conflicts of interest and then share our findings with the media, public, policymakers, and allies in real-time. We fill a distinct and critical role by holding corporations and public officials accountable for their actions. Our work helps create an economy that works for everyone, a democracy that functions, and a sustainable environment for future generations.
Can a big donor, on whose charity an organization depends be an insider or disqualified person solely as a result of the big donations? And does an organization operate for private benefit when it purchases all of its inputs from a single for-profit vendor from whom it receives large donations even if the donor is not an insider?
Accountable.US issued a report implicitly raising those questions. The report suggests that Leonard Leo — pictured above and famous or notorious, depending on your point of view, for his sustained efforts to pack the Supreme Court with conservatives — establishes and presumably donates large sums of money to various conservative nonprofits like the Federalist Society and that those organizations have spent upwards of $104 million doing business with his for profit entities. Would it make a difference if the organizations did business non-exclusively with LL’s profit entities? Should we be concerned, or do we just hate his politics? And the ODB’s success. These questions will be on the exam, boys and girls. Anyway, here is the first page of the report, the entirety of which you can read here.
darryll k. jones