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The American Right Has Received $1.6BN From A Shadowy Conservative Business Donor. Meet The New Koch [1]
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Date: 2022-08-25
Leonard Leo's The Federalist Society gave us Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett
An important event occurred this week that many of you may have missed. The New York Times reported on Monday that an extreme Christian conservative businessman from Chicago just made the largest contribution to a political advocacy group in American history -- $1.6 billion to the Federalist Society.
Why should this alarm us? The Federalist Society is a conservative Christian advocacy group co-chaired by Leonard A. Leo who was instrumental in pushing through the conservative Christian majority into the Supreme Court. The same Supreme Court that has just trampled on our abortion rights along with numerous other pro-business decisions.
Reclusive Billionaire Barre Seid
The businessman in questions, 90-year-old Barre Seid, has gifted Leo a war chest that will push American politics further towards the Christian conservative right. Seid is a shadowy figure who has been donating to conservative organization for decades, without drawing the attention of the likes of the Koch brothers. He made his fortune manufacturing data center equipment via his company, Tripp Lite, for over 50 years.
The money was put into the account of the Marble Freedom Trust, specifically created to deal with the massive donation, which allowed Seid to dodge paying $400m in taxes, thus maximizing the impact of his money.
Imagine what Leo is now poised to do with the biggest political capital fund ever created.
The Marble Freedom Trust has the freedom to directly spend money on elections as well as think tanks, universities, advocacy and media. Because of the way the Trust is organized, it does not have to disclose even the most basic details of the names of its directors or donors, everything can be done in secrecy.
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