New reporting reveals how judge in Trump documents case benefits from Leo’s dark network
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, new reporting from The Guardian revealed that U.S. district court Judge Aileen Cannon, currently presiding over former President Trump’s criminal case for mishandling classified documents, is part of conservative kingpin Leonard Leo’s right-wing network. Cannon was gifted a luxury trip by the Leonard Leo-backed Scalia Law School — raising new questions about Leo’s decades-long efforts to curry favor with members of the American judiciary.
The Guardian revealed that Cannon accepted a 2021 trip to a Montana luxury resort from the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, for which Leo brokered at least $30 million in donations to rename the school after Justice Antonin Scalia —and where Leo has been “directly involved” in hiring decisions. Nine speakers at the lavish event were Federalist Society contributors, including three federal circuit judges. Leonard Leo is a longtime Federalist Society leader, previously serving as its executive vice president and now, its co-chair.
In 2021 alone, the George Mason University Foundation, which manages the school’s private gifts and endowment, took over $5 million from Donors Trust, the “dark money ATM of the right.” Donors Trust is an integral part of Leo’s network, having raked in a portion of a massive $59 million donation from Leo’s Marble Freedom Trust in 2020. Over $368,000 was earmarked for the Scalia Law School’s Law and Economics Center, which ran Judge Cannon’s luxury trip.
Continued https://accountable.us/judge-cannon-gifted-luxury-trip-by-leo-backed-scalia-law-school/