CNN sounds alarm on 'largest anonymous dark money' donation to conservative group

CNN sounded the alarm on Tuesday about a large "dark money" donation given to a new conservative group, The Marble Freedom Trust. 

The conservative nonprofit, led by former Federalist Society executive Leonard Leo, received a $1.6 billion donation from a single donor, electronics manufacturing mogul Barre Seid. 

"This massive dark money donation that has the power really to change the political landscape in this country was never meant to be made public but for one tax document," CNN's senior investigative correspondent Drew Griffin said on CNN's "New Day" with John Berman and guest host Kaitlan Collins. 

Griffin described Leo as "a devout catholic known as Donald Trump’s Supreme Court whisperer." The reporter added that, "Leo helped usher in the most conservative Supreme Court in decades, along with helping block Merrick Garland from the Court."

SCHUMER-ALIGNED DARK MONEY NONPROFIT RAKED IN RECORD $105 MILLION FROM ANONYMOUS DONORS, TAX FORMS SHOW

"He and his colleagues at the Federalist Society are given credit for the confirmations of Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett," Griffin explained. 

The conservative majority of the Supreme Court recently overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark abortion decision, in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization case. 

"Leo is the person who can raise the money and has the background to put in place judges who will build a conservative judicial infrastructure around the country," Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) Research Director Robert Maguire told CNN.  

Griffin proclaimed, "Leonard Leo now has an unprecedented amount of cash to spend on whatever political project he likes." He also added that Seid's donation would leave behind a "dark money political legacy that could last decades."

"Money and politics, John," the reporter said to Berman, adding that the donation was "tax free." 

PELOSI-ALIGNED DARK MONEY NONPROFIT RECEIVED $3 MILLION FROM GROUP FUEL BY SWISS BILLIONAIRE

Leo was involved in former President Donald Trump's judicial selections. 

A statement from Leo given to CNN said that "it’s high time for the conservative movement to be among the ranks of George Soros, Hansjörg Wyss, Arabella Advisors and other left-wing philanthropists, going toe-to-toe in the fight to defend our Constitution and its ideals."

Arabella Advisers, a political consulting firm, has deep ties to dark money groups. They managed a group of nonprofits, the New Venture Fund, Sixteen Thirty Fund, Windward Fund and Hopewell Fund, who all raked in a total of $1.6 billion from anonymous donors in 2020. The groups pushed funding towards health care and climate initiatives and spent a large sum on defeating the former president in 2020. 

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Liberal billionaire George Soros, who also has deep dark money ties, is behind the millions of dollars in funding for Governing for Impact, a secretive group that was working behind the scenes with the Biden administration.