Non-profit news outlet ProPublica published multiple articles detailing alleged ethics violations against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, but tax documents reviewed by the Daily Caller News indicated that Thomas had been investigated and resigned. Many of the same donors belong to several actively campaigning organizations. Foundation.
Over the past few months, ProPublica has released several findings regarding the relationship between Clarence Thomas and his friend, billionaire real estate developer Harlan Crowe.The story details an expensive trip that Thomas took with Crow, Crow buying Thomas’ mother House And Crow pays for private school Tuition To Thomas’ grandfather. At the same time, some of ProPublica’s top donors are also major funders of left-wing groups campaigning against Thomas. This includes organizations calling for an investigation into Mr. Thomas following ProPublica reports.
“It’s no coincidence that the groups slandering Judge Thomas are being generously funded by many of the same donors,” said Parker Thayer, a research fellow at the Capital Research Center. told to “A ‘sudden’ public pressure campaign, in which just a few donors pay dozens of ‘grassroots’ activist groups to masquerade as broad public support for a particular issue, left-wing wealthy special interest groups has long been a favored tactic. “
The Sandler Foundation launched ProPublica was the largest donor to the press in 2007 and has donated nearly $40 million in general aid since 2010. The Sandler Foundation has also donated more than $7.5 million to the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) since 2015 and more than $6 million to the American Constitutional Association (ACS) in general aid since 2010, according to tax returns.
The Sandler Foundation was founded by Herbert Sandler and Marion Sandler. forbes The magazine said it “enacted borrowing practices that are a major contributor to the collapse of the housing market.”time magazine listed The Sandler family is one of the 25 people to blame for the financial crisis.
CLC wrote letter After ProPublica reported that it did not disclose any costly trips Thomas took with Crowe, the agency said at a judicial meeting in April that Thomas had been sent to justice “for potential criminal and civil penalties.” It requested referral to the Department of Justice (DOJ) — allegations legal experts told the paper DCNF did not prove wrongdoing.American Constitutional Association President Russ Feingold backed up This called for a Justice Department investigation in April, and Congress has a duty to “check the Supreme Court” by imposing an ethics code and “hardly investigating violations of federal law and flagrant ethical violations.” claimed.
Initials of ProPublica report Thomas quoted experts from both the CLC and the ACS, including Kedrick Payne, senior director of ethics at the CLC, and former federal judge Nancy Gartner, a board member of the ACS.
CLC pane claim He frequently worked for ethical reform of the Supreme Court, testified He attended a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the matter in May as a Democratic witness.
In 2019, the Sandler Foundation also Designated It gave a $500,000 grant to the New Venture Fund of a group called Demand Justice. I support court packing and investigating Thomas, according to tax returns.
Katie O’Connor, Deputy Chief Counsel for Demand Justice, April I participated Democratic lawmakers call for “immediate ethics reform” based on ProPublica report. During the press conference, Mr. O’Connor called out Mr. Thomas. resignation.
demand justice I support He added four more seats to the Supreme Court, arguing that the current “six-to-three Republican majority” “endangers our rights and democracy.”
“If the Sandler Foundation was willing to donate $500,000 to slimy partisan hit units like Demand Justice, why should we believe they didn’t ask ProPublica to do a similar job? Thayer told DCNF.
Robin Sparkman, president of ProPublica, told the DCNF that the agency “exposes abuses of power regardless of which party is in power” and receives “philanthropic support from donors from all walks of life.” He said he was.
“More than 40,000 people actively fund our investigative, bipartisan journalism,” Sparkman said. “Our newsroom operates with complete independence. Neither our donors nor our board members are even aware of the subject matter of our articles before they are published.”
“For more than 15 years, ProPublica’s reporting has focused on private and political scrutiny, including impartial coverage of environmental destruction, gerrymandering, tax manipulation, and involvement in numerous acts of corruption across the country by Republican and Democratic officials. It has spotlighted misconduct across the spectrum,” Sparkman continued.
ProPublica donors also fund Washington’s Civil Society for Responsibility and Ethics (CREW). organization is letter In May, he asked Mr. Thomas to resign.
From 2014 to 2021, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation donated more than $8 million to ProPublica, more than $60,000 to CLC, and more than $252,200 to CREW, according to tax documents.
Since 2016, the Marisula Foundation has donated more than $2 million to ProPublica and about $1 million to CREW, according to tax returns. George Soros isbacked up Since 2011, the Open Society Advancement Foundation has donated more than $3 million to ProPublica, more than $2.7 million to CLC, and more than $2.5 million to CREW, according to tax documents.
Thomas’ first article in ProPublica quotes Virginia Canter, CREW’s Chief Ethics Counsel, while an article on Thomas’ grandnephew sees Richard Painter, who joined CREW as Vice-President in 2016. are quoted.
“ProPublica appears to have received marching orders from the same far-left donors who also fund other left-wing activist groups carrying out similar attacks against the judge,” Judge Neal confirmed. Mark Paoletta, a partner at Shah Jaffe Law Firm, who was involved, said: Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh told DCNF. “Everything is coordinated. The ProPublica are just left-wing attack dogs and their motives are clear.”
Paoletta, a close friend of Mr. Thomas, has been mentioned in several ProPublica reports. His relationship with Harlan Crowe, especially the trip he later said he repaid Crowe, was the subject of the first ProPublica article on Thomas and Crowe.
With so much going on right now, we don’t forget that Justice Clarence Thomas needs to step down and the Supreme Court needs a binding code of ethics.
— Citizens Seeking Ethics (@CREWcrew) June 9, 2023
Other top ProPublica donors have also funded left-wing organizations campaigning against Thomas. (Related: Legal experts call attack on Clarence Thomas ‘ridiculous’, slam media reports ‘incomplete’)
Since 2013, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has contributed nearly $3 million to ProPublica, over $5 million to CLC, $808,000 to ACS, and $703,000 to Alliance for Justice (AFJ). I was. motion He opposed Thomas and recently launched an advertising campaign calling for his resignation.
In 2021, the Hewlett Foundation also donated $175,000 to Fix the Court, an organization that advocates for Supreme Court reform. according to Documents obtained by the Washington Examiner.
From 2013 to 2021, the Ford Foundation has donated approximately $20 million to ProPublica, $4.1 million to CLC, and $500,000 to ACS. The foundation also donated more than $8 million to AFJ, which ran an ad calling for Thomas’ resignation, according to tax documents.
The Ford Foundation also funded several organizations campaign Calls for Supreme Court ethics reform following ProPublica report. That includes about $42 million to Center for Popular. Democracy More than $23 million was paid to the National Center for Women’s Law, according to tax documents.
Marisula Foundation, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Ford Foundation, Open Society Advancement Foundation, CLC, ACS, Demand Justice, CREW, Alliance for Justice, Center for People’s Democracy and National Women The Legal Center did not respond to a request for comment. The Sandler Foundation was not immediately available for comment.
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