SOURCE: BuriedTruth.com, 2020-10-15
This page last modified: 2020-10-21 21:31:35 -0700 (PST)
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Aliases (illustrating an elaborate, obfuscating shell game):
Judicial Education Project [aligned with the Judicial Crisis Network, aka The Concord Fund], aka Honest Elections Project [overlaps Judicial Crisis Network], aka The 85 Fund [aka Judicial Education Project]
In 2018, Donors Trust funded more than 99% of the Judicial Education Project, a legal alias for Honest Elections Project and The 85 Fund.
[2020-07-31] Here Are the Billionaires Funding Trump's Voter Suppression Lawsuits. Dozens of billionaires have donated to the RNC's legal fund that is being used to fight against expanded access to mail voting.
According to OpenSecrets and The Guardian, Judicial Education Project (the Honest Elections Project's alias) has been funded almost entirely by DonorsTrust, a donor-advised fund sponsor that specializes in helping conservative donors anonymously fund "sensitive or controversial issues" while also securing special tax advantages. Donors Trust has been a major funder of groups in the Koch network, including Americans for Prosperity, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), and the State Policy Network, and in 2018 it provided 99% of Judicial Education Project's funding.
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[2020-10-13] "Must-watch / read:" Senator Sheldon Whitehouse Schools Amy Coney Barrett on Dark Money. Superb presentation illustrating Republican Party and dark money influencers on vested special interests (abolition of: affordable health care, access to abortions, LGBTQ+ rights, judicial freedom; concentration of obfuscated power; ...).
[OpenSecrets.org, 2020-05-27] Honest Elections Project: Conservative "dark money" network rebranded to push voting restrictions before 2020 election.
... The Judicial Education Project is also closely linked to Leonard A. Leo, one of the most powerful people in Washington who has shaped Trump's unprecedented effort to remake the federal judiciary with conservative judges.
The organization has deftly hidden the changes to its name from public view. In December 2019, the Judicial Education Project formally changed its legal name to The 85 Fund, a group Leonard Leo backed to funnel "tens of millions" of dollars into conservative causes, according to Axios. The Honest Elections Project is merely a fictitious name -- an alias -- the fund legally adopted in February 2020. The change was nearly indiscernible because The 85 Fund registered two other legal aliases on the same day, including the Judicial Education Project, its old name. The legal maneuver allows it to operate under four different names with little public disclosure that it is the same group.
The Judicial Education Project is closely aligned with the Judicial Crisis Network, a group with unmatched influence in recent years in shaping the federal judiciary. Judicial Crisis Network spearheaded the campaigns to get Gorsuch and Kavanaugh confirmed to the Supreme Court, spending millions of dollars in each instance. It has also spent significantly on critical state supreme court races across the country.
There is a lot of overlap between the Honest Elections Project and the Judicial Crisis Network. Both groups share personnel, including Carrie Severino, the influential president of the Judicial Crisis Network. Both groups have been funded by The Wellspring Committee, a group Leonard Leo raised money for until it shut down in 2018. Both have also paid money to BH Group, an LLC Leonard Leo once disclosed as his employer, that made a $1 million mystery donation to Trump's inauguration.
The Judicial Crisis Network also rebranded in recent months, changing its name in December 2019 to The Concord Fund. The Concord Fund then registered Judicial Crisis Network, its old name, as an alias.
"This is a small community that is really trying to push forward these more suppressive tactics that will be challenged in court and having those judges on the bench, they're really hoping it's going to continue to rig the system in their favor," said Lena Zwarensteyn, who closely follows judicial nominations at the Leadership conference. "By changing the rules of the game and who the referees are, they're trying to change the landscape." ...
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