CfA claims that these nonprofits may “have diverted substantial portions of their income and assets, directly or indirectly, to the personal benefit of Leonard Leo,” though CfA admitted in the filing it was “[not] able to easily determine” the full scope of financial complexities involving those groups.
Schwalb’s office did not return a phone call and an email seeking comment.
David B. Rivkin Jr., an attorney for Leo, criticized the CfA filing and told CNA that lawyers are currently working with Schwalb on the allegations.
“The complaint filed by Campaign for Accountability, an Arabella-connected dark money group, is sloppy, deceptive, and legally flawed,” he said, “and we are addressing this fully with the D.C. attorney general’s office.”
Leo has been a mainstay in conservative politics for decades. A longtime affiliate with the conservative Federalist Society in Washington, he worked with both the George W. Bush and the Donald Trump administrations in selecting and promoting their respective judicial nominations.
He played prominent roles in promoting all three of former President Trump’s Supreme Court nominations, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.