The dark money/court capture group @judicialnetwork just announced a $1.5M ad buy. The ad takes a jab at #KBJ, but mostly peddles a vanity project/film about Clarence Thomas.

The story behind this hagiography + ad campaign is what’s really revealing.

Let’s follow the $$$. 🧵
First, the ad buyer:

JCN is part of Leonard Leo’s web that has raised nearly $600M in recent years to capture the Supreme Court + reshape the law. The ultimate goal: reverse a century of legal precedents disliked by Leo and his super-rich secret funders.
truenorthresearch.org/2022/03/leonar…
JCN’s ad directs viewers to a seemingly revamped site: clarencethomas.com, listing Clarence Thomas as its copyright holder. There you can see the “documentary” “Created Equal.” Here are some of its funders, which we’ll take up one by one.
Charles Koch🚩
His agenda: limit government's ability 2 protect people from corporate power

No wonder he pumped $ into a flick about a judge who votes his way. He funds the Leo co-chaired @FedSoc + touted working w/ it on “judicial confirmation strategy” kochdocs.org/2019/06/07/201…
Koch’s @AFPhq brought a case to the Court, after his charity funded Thomas’ biopic, and Thomas ruled for @AFPhq.

(Gorsuch did too. Koch helped get him confirmed + Leo’s America Engaged gave $$$ to Koch’s umbrella group to help.)
documentcloud.org/documents/2050…
Diana Davis Spencer Foundation 🚩
Formed from banking fortune of a @Heritage chair, DDSF gave a massive $10M grant to Leo’s @FedSoc + Diana Davis Spencer is on its board. DDSF has funded others pushing right-wing activists onto the Court, like @IWF.
sourcewatch.org/index.php/Dian…
Sarah Scaife Foundation 🚩
Rooted in billionaire Dick Scaife’s devotion to a libertarian & religious agenda, SSF is built from the Mellon banking/oil empire profits.

It gives $$$ to groups aiding Leo’s agenda to remake the law, like @FedSoc and @IWF.
politicalresearch.org/2014/07/15/lib…
Judicial Education Project 🚩
Thomas’ biopic was financed by JEP, which has filed amicus briefs to the Court, + now its sister group, JCN, is spending $1.5M on ads for the film AND using it to attack #KBJ? Uh huh. @CarrieSeverino leads both. fixthecourt.com/2022/03/ahead-…
Harlan Crow🚩
Crow is a billionaire who has let Clarence & Ginni Thomas use his planes/yacht. They became friends after Thomas became a judge.

Crow gave $500K to Ginni's Liberty Central, which attacked the ACA, a law her husband later ruled against
newyorker.com/magazine/2022/…
Thomas Klingenstein🚩
An investment banker & chair of the Claremont Institute, which has been scrutinized over John Eastman’s role in advising Trump on how to overturn the election. Klingenstein is a Trump supporter & gave $100K to support the Thomas film
vice.com/en/article/xgd…
The Psalm 103 Foundation 🚩
This foundation is funded by the John Templeton investment banking fortune. Jack Templeton provided substantial funding for the religious right. This offshoot has funded the film + opposed gay Scout leaders.

vice.com/en/article/qbw…
The Others 🚩
There’s David Sokol, who used to work for Berkshire Hathaway; Dennis Washington, a billionaire from mining and shipping interests; and the half-billionaire John Dicke, a global forklift manufacturer. There’s more.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_L._…
Bradley Foundation 🚩
Bradley isn't listed in the film's credits, but its 2019 report shows it gave $100K to The Public Media Lab for it.

On Leo’s advice, Bradley secretly funded JEP’s amicus briefs attacking laws like the ACA.
truenorthresearch.org/2020/10/snapsh…
Anonymous 🚩
Someone anonymous to the public funded promotion of the film glorifying Thomas’ words. Does Thomas or Ginni know who or how much? Who is funding the $1.5M ad buy about the film? Does “anonymous” have cases before the Court or fund briefs?
Another group helped promote the film 🚩

“CRC” was listed as press contact on the film’s press release. This PR firm received $4M from @JCN in 2019 + did PR for Thomas' memoir.

Other CRC clients include @FedSoc + Koch's @AFPhq.
justicethomasmovie.com/wp-content/upl…
In 2020, CRC became CRC Advisors under the leadership of Leonard Leo + planned a "minimum $10 million issue advocacy campaign focused on judges in the 2020 cycle." It is closely tied to JCN, which actively pushed for #ACB + now attacks #KBJ.
axios.com/leonard-leo-cr…
Though invisible at first glance, behind the JCN ad is an interlocking web of groups + people tied to the right-wing capture of the Court. Some funders are known + some are kept secret, allowing them to hide as they distort public opinion and the law.
A Justice with integrity would renounce an ad buy funded by secret donors to promote the film about his life or its use to attack #KBJ. They would also oppose secret financing of his biopic or funding from past or future litigants. But Thomas is close to Leo
**CORRECTION: justicethomas.com, not clarencethomas.com**

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More from @itstruenorth

Mar 23
Over & over in the #KBJ hearings, we’ve heard Republicans make accusations about “left-wing dark money.”

There's a big problem with those attacks:

When they had a chance to vote for financial disclosure/transparency for dark money groups, those Republican Senators opposed it.🧵
In 2010, @SenWhitehouse introduced the DISCLOSE Act to combat dark money in response to the Court’s Citizens United decision, which struck down bipartisan fair election rules.

Senate Republicans, with @LeaderMcConnell at the helm, filibustered it.
washingtonpost.com/blogs/2chamber…
In 2019, Dems introduced the For the People Act to require disclosure of sources of dark money spent to influence elections.

Charles Koch's “Stand Together” had a secret call with GOP aides to sink the popular bill.

Again, Senate Rs blocked the reform.
newyorker.com/news/news-desk…
Read 9 tweets
Mar 23
Senator Blackburn's appearances in today & yesterday's SCOTUS hearings delve into a host of culture war issues out of the blue. It’s worth interrogating the origins of these attacks on #JudgeJackson 🧵nytimes.com/2022/03/21/us/…
Blackburn has close ties with a right-wing culture war group that calls itself the “Independent Women’s Forum,” which backed controversial Trump nominees to the Court and has touted its ability to appear neutral.
This week, True North released a report highlighting talking points IWLC, IWF’s legal center, sent to GOP Senators in advance of the hearing. truenorthresearch.org/2022/03/dark-m…
Read 11 tweets
Mar 22
Wondering where the misleading narrative about #JudgeJackson pushed by Sen. Hawley yesterday — re criminal sentences — comes from? Spoiler: it has dark money origins 🧵
It appears this line of attack originated via the American Accountability Foundation, an outfit with clear links to Conservative Partnership Institute that was launched in 2021 to oppose Biden’s nominees.
It was then promoted in a separate “report” by the Article III Project (A3P), another right-wing outfit that received almost all its known funding from the dark money Concord Fund in 2019.
Read 4 tweets
Sep 15, 2021
The @USChamber has launched a full court press against the #BuildBackBetter plan. But many of its corporate members say they support families & #ClimateAction. Their $ to the Chamber speaks louder than words. Tell them to back this historic agenda!
Hey @Amazon try delivering paid family leave & clean energy standards by demanding the @USChamber stop opposing the #BuildBackBetter plan.
.@AmericanExpress how about telling @USChamber you want cash back for attacking #BuildBackBetter’s protections for families and the planet! Which side are you on?
Read 10 tweets

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