Mysterious dark money group got $22 million to get Trump SCOTUS pick Kavanaugh confirmed

Mysterious dark money group got $22 million to get Trump SCOTUS pick Kavanaugh confirmed
Election '20

A just-published report by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics' award-winning OpenSecrets.org reveals the Judicial Crisis Network, a conservative secretive dark money group received $22 million from anonymous donors in the year leading up to the Tump administration and conservatives' push to place Brett Kavanaugh on the U.S. Supreme Court.


$17 million of that $22 million came from one anonymous donor.

"The Judicial Crisis Network (JCN), a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, pledged to spend as much as $10 million to ensure Kavanaugh’s confirmation — the same amount that it spent to help confirm Justice Neil Gorsuch in 2017," Anna Massoglia and Andrew Perez at OpenSecrets reveal in their report Friday.

"JCN has close ties to Trump’s judicial adviser Leonard Leo, a longtime executive at the Federalist Society, the influential conservative and libertarian lawyers network based in Washington, D.C."

If you're not familiar with the Judicial Crisis Network, here's one of their ads you may have seen on TV in the run up to the Kavanaugh confirmation vote:

Here's where it gets even more disturbing.

"The bulk of JCN’s funding has typically come from the Wellspring Committee, another secretive nonprofit run by operatives who wear multiple hats in a larger network of opaque groups."

That "larger network of opaque groups" links to another OpenSecrets report: "New clues link $1 million Trump inauguration mystery money to secretive 'dark money' network."

OpenSecrets adds, "Wellspring has continued to send massive annual endowments to JCN since the group launched in 2005. JCN, in turn, has continued to pour tens of millions of dollars into every subsequent Supreme Court nomination fight and working to reshape the judiciary. Wellspring reported donating almost $15 million to JCN in 2017, on top of $23.5 million in 2016. Neither organization discloses the sources of its funds."

Understand the importance of honest news ?

So do we.

The past year has been the most arduous of our lives. The Covid-19 pandemic continues to be catastrophic not only to our health - mental and physical - but also to the stability of millions of people. For all of us independent news organizations, it’s no exception.

We’ve covered everything thrown at us this past year and will continue to do so with your support. We’ve always understood the importance of calling out corruption, regardless of political affiliation.

We need your support in this difficult time. Every reader contribution, no matter the amount, makes a difference in allowing our newsroom to bring you the stories that matter, at a time when being informed is more important than ever. Invest with us.

Make a one-time contribution to Alternet All Access, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you.

Click to donate by check.

DonateDonate by credit card
Donate by Paypal
{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}
@2023 - AlterNet Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. - "Poynter" fonts provided by fontsempire.com.