Federalist Society Co-Chairman to Launch New Consulting Group to Funnel Donations to Conservative Causes

Federalist Society co-chair Leonard Leo will launch a new consulting firm to direct donations to conservative groups and causes, Axios reported on Tuesday.

Leo has established himself as one of the most influential conservative fundraisers in the nation. Between 2014 and 2017 he raised $250 million, much of it from undisclosed donors, and directed the funds to nonprofits that support conservative causes, including efforts to appoint conservative judges and the push to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Leo and his business partner, Greg Mueller, plan to use strategies they gleaned from studying a left-wing consulting firm called Arabella Advisors, which Politico reported was connected to “an unprecedented gusher of secret money” funding Democratic causes in 2018.

Arabella was founded by Clinton White House appointee Eric Kessler, who also chairs a non-profit called the Sixteen Thirty Fund that has funneled millions of dollars to support Democratic candidates. Arabella advises donors and nonprofits on which institutions and individuals they should support.

Leo and Mueller said they saw an opportunity to replicate the strategies for right-wing causes. Their new firm will be called CRC Advisors, and will work with two existing nonprofits that will be renamed the Concord Fund and the 85 Fund to channel funds toward conservative groups and causes.

Leo told Axios one of his first initiatives will be a “minimum of $10 million issue advocacy campaign focusing on judges in the 2020 cycle.”

A spokesperson for Arabella Advisors disputed Leo’s characterization of the group as left-wing.

“[Arabella] provides advice and implementation support to clients with very different ideological and political viewpoints and many clients for whom politics and policy are not areas of interest,” the spokesperson said.