Concord Fund Explained

Concord Fund
Type:501(c)(4)
Location:Washington, D.C.
Leader Name:Carrie Severino
Formerly:Judicial Crisis Network
Key People:Leonard Leo
Affiliations:The 85 Fund
CRC Advisors

The Concord Fund (formerly the Judicial Crisis Network and the Judicial Confirmation Network)[1] is an American conservative advocacy organization. Its president is Carrie Severino, a former law clerk for Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas.[2] In 2020, OpenSecrets described the organization as having "unmatched influence in recent years in shaping the federal judiciary."[3] It is among a network of organizations associated with Leonard Leo, a co-chair of the Federalist Society, that are funded mostly by anonymous donors, with funding distributed by Concord and a related group, The 85 Fund.[4] [5]

Background

The organization was founded in 2005 to promote the judicial appointees of then president George W. Bush.[6] Fundraiser and lawyer Ann Corkery, along with California real estate magnate Robin Arkley II, were key to the beginning of the organization.[7]

The current leader is Carrie Severino.[8] [9] She was previously a law clerk to United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and to Judge David B. Sentelle of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.[10] She is a contributor to National Review.[11] [12] She is married to Roger Severino.

Severino received her J.D. degree from Harvard Law School, where she was a student while Elena Kagan was dean.[13] Severino has been involved with constitutional challenges to the Affordable Care Act.[14] [15]

Funding

The leading funder of Concord is the Wellspring Committee, which is directed by Ann Corkery.[6] Wellspring was part of the Koch political financing network leading up to the 2008 elections, then was later used by Leonard Leo's associates to direct money to Concord's predecessor organizations.[16] Wellspring, which does not disclose who funds it, gave close to $7 million to Concord in 2014;[17] between 2012 and 2015, it reported giving Concord more than $15 million.[18] Concord's tax return for the period July 2015 to June 2016 shows that one $17.9 million donation, whose source was not reported, accounted for 96.6 percent of the organization's revenue.

Advocacy activities

In 2013, Concord ran ads in Alaska that were critical of U.S. senator Mark Begich's votes to approve all of president Barack Obama's federal judicial nominees.[19] The group also ran advertisements that were critical of Mary Landrieu and Mark Pryor's votes for president Obama's court picks.[20] In 2014, the group ran digital advertisements critical of Chris Christie's judicial appointments.[2] [21] Concord has been active in Michigan and North Carolina supreme court elections.[22]

In 2015, the Judicial Crisis Network donated $600,000 to Nebraskans for the Death Penalty, a group promoting reinstatement of capital punishment in Nebraska.[23] [24]

In 2016, Concord ran a negative advertisement about Jane L. Kelly, a federal appeals judge from Iowa who was on a White House list of possible nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court.[25]

Also in 2016, Concord bought advertisements across the country to oppose president Obama's supreme court nominee, chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Merrick Garland.[6] In November 2016, after Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, Concord ran television advertisements praising senate judiciary chairman Chuck Grassley for holding the line against Garland.[26] The group also spent over $500,000 on advertisements thanking Trump for his campaign promises regarding the types of justices he would select for the nation's high court. Concord's advertisements asked viewers to thank Trump for pledging to nominate conservative jurists in the mold of Antonin Scalia to the Supreme Court.[27] [28]

On January 31, 2017, the Judicial Crisis Network committed to spending $10 million on advocacy ads in favor of president Donald Trump's first Supreme Court of the United States nominee, Neil Gorsuch.[29]

The Judicial Crisis Network spent $4.5 million in ad buys supportive of the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.[30] In 2019, the watchdog group Campaign for Accountability accused Concord of sending illegal robotexts to Indiana residents about the Supreme Court nomination of Kavanaugh.[31]

In September 2020, after the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Concord launched a $2.2 million campaign to support President Trump's right to appoint a judge prior to the November 2020 presidential election.[32] [33] [34]

In 2022, Concord donated $350,000 to Consumers Defense, the 501(c)4 arm of Consumers' Research, a conservative advocacy group that opposes corporate environmental, social, and governance policies.[35]

The 85 Fund, formerly known as the Judicial Education Project, is closely aligned with the Concord.[3]

Notes and References

  1. News: Stone . Peter . US dark-money fund spends millions to back Republican attorneys general . The Guardian . June 23, 2023.
  2. News: Haberman. Maggie. Conservative judicial group to hammer Chris Christie. Politico. July 15, 2014 . February 14, 2017.
  3. News: Massoglia . Anna . Levine . Sam . Conservative 'dark money' network rebranded to push voting restrictions before 2020 election . . 27 May 2020 .
  4. News: Vogel . Kenneth P. . Leonard Leo’s Network Is Increasingly Powerful. But It Is Not Easy to Define . The New York TImes . October 12, 2022.
  5. News: Vogel . Kenneth P. . Leonard Leo Pushed the Courts Right. Now He’s Aiming at American Society . The New York TImes . October 12, 2022.
  6. News: Michaelson . Jay . March 29, 2016 . Billionaires Try to Buy the Supreme Court . . March 29, 2016 .
  7. Web site: Novak . Viveca . Stone . Peter . March 23, 2015 . The JCN Story: Building a Secretive GOP Judicial Machine . . . March 29, 2016.
  8. News: Bauman. Michelle. Legal Scholar Deplores Media Confusion Over HHS Mandate. March 10, 2015. National Catholic Register. February 6, 2013.
  9. News: Greenhouse. Linda. By Any Means Necessary. March 10, 2015. The New York Times. August 20, 2014.
  10. Web site: Carrie Severino. Judicial Crisis Network. March 10, 2015.
  11. Web site: Carrie Severino. National Review. March 10, 2015.
  12. News: Mears. Bill. Analysis: Justice Thomas comments spark fresh debate on race. March 10, 2015. CNN. February 12, 2014.
  13. News: Totenberg. Nina. At Harvard, Kagan Won More Fans Than Foes. March 10, 2015. NPR. May 18, 2010.
  14. News: Meinecke. Elisabeth. ObamaCare at the Supreme Court: What to Expect. March 10, 2015. Townhall. February 7, 2012.
  15. News: de Vogue. Ariane. Little-Known Legal Challenge That Could Torpedo Obamacare. March 10, 2015. ABC News. April 14, 2014.
  16. News: Vogel . Kenneth P. . Leonard Leo’s Network Is Increasingly Powerful. But It Is Not Easy to Define . The New York TImes . October 12, 2022.
  17. News: These Right-Wing Groups Are Gearing Up for an Onslaught on Obama's Supreme Court Nominee. Mencimer. Stephanie. March 19, 2016. Mother Jones. March 29, 2016. Foundation for National Progress.
  18. Web site: Dark Money Group Received Massive Donation In Fight Against Obama's Supreme Court Nominee. Sessa-Hawkins. Margaret. Perez. Andrew. October 24, 2017. maplight.org. en-US. October 26, 2017.
  19. News: Cole. Dermot. Begich attack ads a sign of things to come in heated Senate race. March 10, 2015. . online . December 21, 2013.
  20. News: Sullivan. Sean. Conservative group hits Landrieu with ad on judicial nominations. March 10, 2015 . . online . December 2, 2013.
  21. News: Camia. Catalina. Conservatives blast Chris Christie ahead of Iowa trip. March 10, 2015. . online . July 15, 2014.
  22. Web site: Judicial Crisis Network . . March 10, 2015.
  23. Web site: . Grant . Schulte . Nebraska group touts support to stop death penalty repeal . The Big Story . https://web.archive.org/web/20150828063339/http://bigstory.ap.org/article/a6fa81941bae494b8f7f773d63b68ead/nebraska-pro-death-penalty-group-submitting-signatures . August 28, 2015 . The largest donation in July came from the conservative, Washington-based Judicial Crisis Network, which gave $200,000. Nebraskans for the Death Penalty relied on a combination of paid and volunteer petition circulators, and was aided by an Arizona-based strategist who specializes in ballot campaigns..
  24. Web site: Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission. www.nadc.nebraska.gov. September 7, 2018.
  25. News: Overby . Peter . Conservatives Lobby Around Supreme Court Nomination . March 24, 2016 . . March 17, 2016.
  26. News: Everett. Burgess. Judicial Crisis Network already running ads ahead of Trump SCOTUS pick. November 29, 2016. Politico. November 18, 2016.
  27. News: Lovelace. Ryan. Group launches $500K ad campaign praising Trump's SCOTUS pledge. November 29, 2016. Washington Examiner. online. November 28, 2016.
  28. News: DeBonis. Mike. The fight to confirm Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee starts now. November 29, 2016. Washington Post. online. November 25, 2016.
  29. News: Weber. Joseph. Conservative group launches $10M campaign to support Trump's Supreme Court pick. February 14, 2017. FoxNews.com. January 31, 2017.
  30. News: Judicial group launches third ad buy to push Kavanaugh confirmation. Balluck. Kyle. July 23, 2018. TheHill. August 2, 2018. en.
  31. Web site: Watchdog accuses pro-Kavanaugh group of sending illegal robotexts in 2018. John. Bowden. October 8, 2019. The Hill.
  32. Web site: Judicial Crisis Network will spend $2.2 million to boost Trump's court pick. 2020-09-23. www.msn.com.
  33. Web site: Mineiro. Megan. 2020-09-22. Democrats Condemn Big-Money Campaigns Backing Judicial Nominations. 2020-09-23. en-US.
  34. Web site: 2020-09-21. Judicial Crisis Network launches $2.2M ad buy backing Trump Supreme Court pick. 2020-09-23. Washington Examiner. en.
  35. News: Pengelly . Martin . 2024-07-18 . Rightwinger Leonard Leo helped fuel Bud Light boycott, tax filings show . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20240718124146/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/18/bud-light-boycott-funding . 2024-07-18 . 2024-07-18 . . 0261-3077.

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