Leonard Leo

Leonard Anthony Leo{{Cite web |title=The Central New Jersey Home News 15 Oct 1989, page 36 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/318095835 |access-date=2023-06-21 |website=Newspapers.com |language=en}} was born on Long Island, New York, in November 1965, and raised in suburban New Jersey. His grandfather, an Italian immigrant, was a vice president of fashion company Brooks Brothers.{{cite magazine |last=Toobin |first=Jeffrey|author-link = Jeffrey Toobin |date=April 17, 2017 |title=The Conservative Pipeline to the Supreme Court |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/17/the-conservative-pipeline-to-the-supreme-court |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=September 29, 2017 }}{{Cite news |last1=O'Harrow |first1=Robert Jr. |last2=Boburg |first2=Shawn |date=May 21, 2019 |title=A conservative activist's behind-the-scenes campaign to remake the nation's courts |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/investigations/leonard-leo-federalists-society-courts/}}{{Cite news |last=Bella |first=Timothy |date=2023-05-05 |title=Who is conservative activist Leonard Leo? A friend of Clarence Thomas. |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/05/05/leonard-leo-clarence-thomas-ginni/ |access-date=2023-09-22 |issn=0190-8286}} He grew up in a family of practicing Catholics.

Leo's father was a pastry chef, who died when Leo was a toddler.{{cite news |last1=Kroll |first1=Andy |last2=Bernstein |first2=Andrea |last3=Marritz |first3=Ilya |title=We Don’t Talk About Leonard: The Man Behind the Right’s Supreme Court Supermajority |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/we-dont-talk-about-leonard-leo-supreme-court-supermajority |access-date=10 December 2024 |work=ProPublica |date=11 October 2023 |language=en}} When Leo was five years old, his mother married an engineer, and the family moved to Monroe Township, New Jersey, where he spent most of his childhood.Olear, Greg. [https://gregolear.substack.com/p/leonard-leos-unheavenly-rewards "Leonard Leo's Unheavenly Rewards"], Prevail, March 7, 2023. Accessed October 2, 2023. "I don’t begrudge a fellow middle-class Jersey guy—Leo hails from Monroe Township, which is not to be confused with Alpine or Short Hills—from striking it rich." He graduated in 1983 from Monroe Township High School, where he and his future wife, Sally, were both named "Most Likely to Succeed" in the school's yearbook.Levine, Audrey. [https://archive.centraljersey.com/2006/06/30/mths-graduates-ready-for-future/ "MTHS graduates ready for future"], CentralJersey.com, June 30, 2006. Accessed October 2, 2023. "Despite the sweltering heat and humidity, hundreds of parents, friends, relatives, teachers and administrators gathered on the football field at Monroe Township High School, craning their necks to see the more than 300 graduates as they paraded down the track at the graduation ceremony for the Class of 2006 on June 22... Leonard Leo, Class of 1983, now the executive vice president of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, traveled from his home in Washington, D.C., to share some thoughts with the graduates."

Leo attended Cornell University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1986, working as an intern in the office of Senator Orrin Hatch. He then attended Cornell Law School, graduating with a J.D. in 1989. He then clerked for Judge A. Raymond Randolph of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.{{cite news |last1=Lipton |first1=Eric |last2=Peters |first2=Jeremy |date=March 18, 2017 |title=In Gorsuch, Conservative Activist Sees Test Case for Reshaping the Judiciary |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/us/politics/neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-conservatives.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 29, 2017 }}

While studying law at Cornell, Leo founded a student chapter of the Federalist Society in 1989, and went to work for the Society in 1991 in Washington, D.C. He met Clarence Thomas while clerking in the Appeals Court, and the two became close friends. Leo delayed his start at the Federalist Society to assist Thomas in his Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Leo served at the Federalist Society in various capacities for more than 25 years. In 2019, The Washington Post reported that the Federalist Society had paid Leo an annual salary of more than $400,000 for a number of years.

Leo took leaves of absence from the Federalist Society to assist the Bush administration's judicial nomination and confirmation efforts.{{Citation Needed|date=November 2024}} This included the unsuccessful nomination of Miguel Estrada to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, as well as the successful confirmations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court.{{cite news|last=Kirkpatrick|first=David|title=A Year of Work to Sell Roberts to Conservatives|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/22/politics/politicsspecial1/22lobby.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|access-date=21 May 2014|newspaper=The New York Times|date=July 22, 2005}}{{cite news|last=Cook|first=Robin|title=Confirmation of High Court Justices Akin to Political Campaign, Leo Says|url=http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/alumni/uvalawyer/f06/leo.htm|access-date=21 May 2014|newspaper=UVA Lawyer|date=Fall 2006}}

In 2017, legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin wrote that Leo was "responsible, to a considerable extent, for one third of the justices on the Supreme Court".{{Cite web |date=April 12, 2017 |title=How One Man Brought Justices Roberts, Alito And Gorsuch To The Supreme Court |url=https://www.npr.org/2017/04/12/523495201/how-one-man-brought-justices-roberts-alito-and-gorsuch-to-the-supreme-court |access-date=June 10, 2019 |website=NPR |language=en}} The Washington Post would later write that "few people outside government have more influence over judicial appointments now than Leo."

In 2016, Leo worked with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to block President Barack Obama's replacement appointee, Merrick Garland. Leo's nonprofit, the Judicial Crisis Network reported that it spent more than $7 million to prevent Garland's confirmation. After Donald Trump's election, The New York Times described Leo as playing a "critical role" in reshaping the judiciary through Trump's Supreme Court nominees, first contacting then-appellate-judge Neil Gorsuch about potentially nominating him to the vacancy created by Scalia's death.{{Cite news |last1=Lipton |first1=Eric |last2=Peters |first2=Jeremy |date=2017-03-18 |title=In Gorsuch, Conservative Activist Sees Test Case for Reshaping the Judiciary |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/18/us/politics/neil-gorsuch-supreme-court-conservatives.html |access-date=2023-06-23 |issn=0362-4331}}{{cite news |last1=Flegenheimer |first1=Matt |last2=Hulse |first2=Carl |last3=Savage |first3=Charlie |last4=Liptak |first4=Adam |date=March 20, 2017 |title=Six Highlights From the Gorsuch Confirmation Hearing |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/20/us/politics/judge-gorsuch-supreme-court-confirmation-hearings.html |accessdate=March 20, 2017 |authorlink2=Carl Hulse |authorlink3=Charlie Savage (author) |authorlink4=Adam Liptak}}

Leo's CRC Advisors coordinated "a months-long media campaign" in support of Gorsuch's nomination, including "opinion essays, contributing 5,000 quotes to news stories, scheduling pundit appearances on television," as well as television and radio advertisements.{{Cite web|title= It's true: millions in dark money has been spent to tilt courts right|url=https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/sep/11/sheldon-whitehouse/its-true-millions-dark-money-has-been-spent-tilt-c/|access-date=2020-10-20|website=PolitiFact|language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Case Studies |url=http://www.crcstrategies.com/case-studies/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20190610135804/http://www.crcstrategies.com/case-studies/ |archive-date=June 10, 2019 |access-date=June 22, 2023 |website=CRC Advisors}} Between 2014 and 2017, entities affiliated with Leo raised over $250 million from donors including Charles Koch and Rebekah Mercer.{{Cite web |last1=Massoglia |first1=Anna |last2=Perez |first2=Andrew |date=February 27, 2019 |title=New 'dark money' group led by Trump judicial adviser tied to network promoting his court picks |url=https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/02/dark-money-group-led-by-trump-judicial-adviser-scotus-picks/ |website=OpenSecrets}}{{Cite news|last1=Boburg|first1=Shawn|first2=Robert Jr. |last2=O'Harrow|title=Five takeaways from The Post's report on Leonard Leo|language=en-US|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/five-takeaways-from-the-posts-report-on-leonard-leo/2019/05/20/c547954c-78e9-11e9-b3f5-5673edf2d127_story.html|date=May 21, 2019|access-date=October 15, 2020|issn=0190-8286}}

In 2018, Politico reported that Leo had personally lobbied for Brett Kavanaugh's nomination for the Supreme Court seat vacated by Anthony Kennedy, raising upward of $15 million in support of his confirmation.{{Cite web |last=Johnson |first=Eliana |date=2018-09-25 |title=Kavanaugh's friends promoted him. Now they have to rescue him. |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2018/09/25/kavanaugh-conservative-legal-insiders-838469 |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=POLITICO |language=en}} The Judicial Crisis Network ran television and radio advertisements supporting Kavanaugh's nomination, and CRC advisors "hype[d] a theory that Christine Blasey Ford’s accusation—that when they were both in high school, Kavanaugh pushed her on a bed and tried to remove her clothing—was actually a case of mistaken identity".

In a 2018 interview, when asked about a possible vacancy on the Supreme Court during an election year, Leo stated that "If a vacancy occurs in 2020, the vacancy needs to remain open until a president is elected and inaugurated and can pick. That's my position, period." Leo said he would advise Trump not to act on an election year Supreme Court vacancy, adding that he had never asked Trump about the possible scenario.{{Cite web|title=Leonard Leo|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/firing-line/video/leonard-leo-bxgblx/|access-date=2020-10-22|website=Firing Line with Margaret Hoover|language=en-US}}

After the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September 2020, The Wall Street Journal reported that Leo was involved in the selection process for Ginsburg's replacement. Ultimately, that process resulted in the October 2020 appointment of Amy Coney Barrett.{{Cite news|first1=Andrew|last1=Restuccia|first2=Michael C.|last2=Bender|date=September 19, 2020|title=Trump's Supreme Court Nomination Strategy Steered by White House Counsel, Others|language=en-US|work=The Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/white-house-counsel-others-steer-trumps-supreme-court-nomination-strategy-11600553569|access-date=October 20, 2020|issn=0099-9660}}{{Cite web |date=2021-12-20 |title=How Dark Money Bought A Supreme Court Seat |url=https://www.levernews.com/how-dark-money-bought-a-supreme-court-seat/ |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=The Lever |language=en}}

{{Conservatism US|activists}}

File:President Donald J. Trump’s Dinner with Grassroots Leaders 01.jpg

Media outlets have described Leo as the "behind-the-scenes leader of a network of interlocking nonprofits that has raised and spent hundreds of millions of dollars to support conservative judges and causes".{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Emma |last2=Boburg |first2=Shawn |last3=O'Connell |first3=Jonathan |date=May 4, 2023 |title=Judicial activist directed fees to Clarence Thomas's wife, urged 'no mention of Ginni' |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/05/04/leonard-leo-clarence-ginni-thomas-conway/ |access-date=5 May 2023}} Groups affiliated with Leo include The 85 Fund;{{Cite news |last=O’Brien |first=Rebecca Davis |date=2023-05-12 |title=Group Tied to Influential Conservative Activist Spent $183 Million in a Year |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/12/us/politics/leonard-leo-marble-freedom-trust.html |access-date=2023-06-23 |issn=0362-4331}} the Concord Fund (formerly the Judicial Crisis Network); the Marble Freedom Trust;{{Cite web |last=Elliott |first=Andrew Perez, Andy Kroll, Justin |date=2022-08-22 |title=How a Secretive Billionaire Handed His Fortune to the Architect of the Right-Wing Takeover of the Courts |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/dark-money-leonard-leo-barre-seid |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=ProPublica |language=en}} and the Rule of Law Trust, among others.{{cite web |last1=McGreal |first1=Chris |date=September 4, 2022 |title=Leonard Leo: the secretive rightwinger using billions to reshape America |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/04/leonard-leo-federalist-society-conservative-abortion |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220910200628/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/04/leonard-leo-federalist-society-conservative-abortion |archive-date=September 10, 2022 |access-date=10 September 2022 |website=The Guardian}} In 2022, the Marble Freedom Trust received a $1.6 billion donation from Illinois businessman Barre Seid, described as "the largest known donation to a political advocacy group in U.S. history".{{cite web |last1=Tsai |first1=Robert L. |last2=Ziegler |first2=Mary |title=Why the Supreme Court Really Killed Roe v. Wade |url=https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/06/25/mag-tsai-ziegler-movementjudges-00102758 |website=Politico |access-date=25 June 2023 |date=25 June 2023}}

An October 2022 article by Kenneth P. Vogel in The New York Times detailed how Leo, who had been best known for his role in conservative judicial appointments, developed a larger coalition on the right. In January 2020, Leo announced that he would be leaving his position as vice president at the Federalist Society to start a new for-profit group, CRC Advisors, a conservative political consulting firm.{{Cite web |title=Leonard Leo to Keep Judicial Advocacy Focus in New Venture |url=https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/leonard-leo-to-keep-judicial-advocacy-focus-in-new-venture |access-date=2020-01-09 |website=Bloomberg Law |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Cassens Weiss |first=Debra |date=January 8, 2020 |title=Federalist Society official Leonard Leo embarks on a new conservative venture |url=http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/federalist-society-official-leonard-leo-embarks-on-a-new-conservative-venture |access-date=January 9, 2020 |website=ABA Journal |language=en}} Leo remained in his role as co-chairman of the Federalist Society's board of directors.

Vogel wrote that Leo had built "one of the best-funded and most sophisticated operations in American politics, giving him extraordinary influence as he pushes a broad array of hot-button conservative causes and seeks to counter what he sees as an increasing leftward tilt in society."{{cite news |last=Vogel |first=Kenneth P. |date=October 12, 2022 |title=Leonard Leo Pushed the Courts Right. Now He's Aiming at American Society |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/12/us/politics/leonard-leo-courts-dark-money.html |url-access=limited}} In 2023, ProPublica described Leo's activism, namely through the Teneo Network,{{Efn|Not to be confused with the Teneo company}} as focusing on "'woke-ism' in corporations and education, 'one-sided journalism' and 'entertainment that's really corrupting our youth."{{Cite web |last1=Kroll |first1=Andy |last2=Bernstein |first2=Andrea |last3=Surgey |first3=Nick |date=2023-03-09 |title=Inside the "Private and Confidential" Conservative Group That Promises to "Crush Liberal Dominance" |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/leonard-leo-teneo-videos-documents |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=ProPublica |language=en}}

Teneo, from Latin, meaning "I hold" or "I grasp", says it has a plan to "crush liberal dominance" in journalism and education, as well as in business and politics.{{cite web |url=https://www.ncronline.org/news/leonard-leo-architect-conservative-supreme-court-takes-wider-culture |last=Schlumpf |first=Heidi |title=Leonard Leo, architect of conservative Supreme Court, takes on wider culture |website=National Catholic Reporter |date=2024-01-04 |access-date=2024-05-30 |edition=Jan 19–Feb 1, 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240529144154/https://www.ncronline.org/news/leonard-leo-architect-conservative-supreme-court-takes-wider-culture |archive-date=2024-05-29}} It consists of various loosely affiliated non-profit and for-profit entities, which collectively spent nearly $504 million between mid-2015 and 2021. These include two for-profit firms Leo at least partly controls, BH Group and CRC Advisors, which are also compensated by funding hubs in Leo's network, The 85 Fund and the Concord Fund.

The Teneo Network is a member of the advisory board of Project 2025,{{Cite web |title=Advisory Board |url=https://www.project2025.org/about/advisory-board/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231119034220/https://www.project2025.org/about/advisory-board/ |archive-date=November 19, 2023 |access-date=July 8, 2024 |publisher=The Heritage Foundation}} a collection of conservative and right-wing policy proposals from the Heritage Foundation to reshape the United States federal government and consolidate executive power should the Republican nominee win the 2024 presidential election.{{Cite news |last=Mascaro |first=Lisa |date=August 29, 2023 |title=Conservative Groups Draw Up Plan to Dismantle the US Government and Replace It with Trump's Vision |url=https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-conservatives-trump-heritage-857eb794e505f1c6710eb03fd5b58981 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922112031/https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-conservatives-trump-heritage-857eb794e505f1c6710eb03fd5b58981 |archive-date=September 22, 2023 |access-date=July 8, 2024 |work=Associated Press News}}

In 2011 and 2012, Leo arranged for Liberty Consulting, owned by Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, to be paid $80,000 by The Polling Company, owned by Kellyanne Conway and billed through the Judicial Education Project.{{Cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Emma |last2=Boburg |first2=Shawn |last3=O'Connell |first3=Jonathan |date=2023-05-08 |title=Judicial activist directed fees to Clarence Thomas's wife, urged 'no mention of Ginni' |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/05/04/leonard-leo-clarence-ginni-thomas-conway/ |access-date=2023-06-23 |issn=0190-8286}} Leo directed Conway not to mention Ginni Thomas in paperwork, telling The Washington Post, "The Polling Company, along with Ginni Thomas's help, has been an invaluable resource for gauging public attitudes," and that "Knowing how disrespectful, malicious and gossipy people can be, I have always tried to protect the privacy of Justice Thomas and Ginni."

In June 2023, ProPublica reported that Leo helped organize and attended a fishing trip with Justice Samuel Alito and businessman Paul Singer, whose firms later were parties to litigation before the Supreme Court.{{Cite web |last=Mierjeski |first=Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan, Alex |date=2023-06-20 |title=Justice Samuel Alito Took Luxury Fishing Vacation With GOP Billionaire Who Later Had Cases Before the Court |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/samuel-alito-luxury-fishing-trip-paul-singer-scotus-supreme-court |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=ProPublica |language=en}}

In March 2023, Politico reported that in 2021 and 2022, Leo had moved at least $43 million from his nonprofits into CRC Advisors, a for-profit business which he chairs.{{cite news |last1=Przybyla |first1=Heidi |title=Dark money and special deals: How Leonard Leo and his friends benefited from his judicial activism |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/01/dark-money-leonard-leo-judicial-activism-00084864 |work=Politico |date=March 1, 2023}} In August 2023, the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, Brian Schwalb, began investigating Leo and his network of nonprofit groups after receiving a letter from a progressive watchdog group claiming that Leo-aligned groups had violated nonprofit tax law.{{cite news |last1=Przybyla |first1=Heidi |date=August 22, 2023 |title=D.C. Attorney General is probing Leonard Leo's network |work=Politico |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/22/d-c-attorney-general-is-probing-leonard-leos-network-00112331}}{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/13/jordan-comer-leonard-leo-probe-00126856|title=D.C. attorney general hits back at Jordan, Comer in Leonard Leo probe|date=13 November 2023 |publisher=politico}}

Leo's attorney, David Rivkin, said in October 2023 that Leo would not cooperate with the investigation because Schwalb had "no legal authority" as the Leo nonprofits are not registered in Washington, D.C.{{cite news |last1=Przybyla |first1=Heidi |title=Leonard Leo says he will not cooperate with D.C. Attorney General tax probe |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/03/brian-schwalb-arabella-investors-00119751 |work=Politico |date=October 3, 2023}} Leo's network subsequently engaged in a pressure campaign targeting Schwalb. Twelve Republican attorneys general have challenged the legal basis of Schwalb's probe and Republican members of the U.S. House have announced a probe of Schwalb's investigation.{{cite news |last1=Przybyla |first1=Heidi |title=What happens when an AG dares to investigate Leonard Leo's network |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/23/brian-schwalb-leonard-leo-investigation-00148385 |work=Politico |date=March 23, 2024}}{{cite news |last1=Przybyla |first1=Heidi |title=Leonard Leo says he will not cooperate with D.C. Attorney General tax probe |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/03/brian-schwalb-arabella-investors-00119751 |work=Politico |date=October 3, 2023}}

Leo owns a house on Mount Desert Island, Maine.{{Cite web |date=2024-11-27 |title=Conservatives love him. Liberals disdain him. For residents of Maine town, it's more complicated |url=https://apnews.com/article/leonard-leo-desert-island-maine-supreme-court-42c43a9da87fbde92170f06601519ce7 |website=AP News |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2024-12-20 |title=With right-wing backing, New England offshore wind opponents gain strength |url=https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/12/20/nefsa-new-england-fishermens-stewardship-association-leonard-leo |website=www.wbur.org |language=en}} After he met with leaders of a New England fisherman stewardship association opposed to offshore wind projects, the Concord Fund donated $573,000 to the group in both 2023 and 2024.

In April 2024, the Senate Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena to Leo regarding undisclosed gifts to Supreme Court justices. Within a day, Leo publicly refused to cooperate with the subpoena, calling it "politically motivated" and arising from "dark money".{{cite news |last1=Raji |first1=Tobi |title=Leo rejects Senate subpoena from panel probing gifts to Supreme Court justices |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/11/leonard-leo-subpoena-senate-supreme-court-gifts/ |access-date=April 13, 2024 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=April 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240413020357/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/04/11/leonard-leo-subpoena-senate-supreme-court-gifts/ |archive-date=April 13, 2024}}

In September 2024, in an interview with the Financial Times, Leo said that the Marble Freedom Trust would devote $1 billion to "crush liberal dominance" in news and entertainment, and to fight "companies and financial institutions that bend to the woke mind virus". The trust is also supporting Republican efforts to retake the majority in the Senate.{{Cite web |last=Rogers |first=Alex |date=September 9, 2024 |title=Conservative activist launches $1bn crusade to 'crush' liberal America |url=https://www.ft.com/content/0b38aaed-ec58-40cd-9047-0c7b7b83164a |access-date=2024-09-09 |website=Financial Times}}

Leo was national co-chairman of Catholic outreach for the Republican National Committee, and as the 2004 Bush presidential campaign's Catholic strategist. He was appointed by President George W. Bush and the United States Senate to three terms on the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.{{Cite web |last1=Leo |first1=Leonard |last2=Prodromou |first2=Elizabeth |date=July 1, 2011 |title=Protecting Religious Freedom Abroad |url=https://hir.harvard.edu/protecting-religious-freedom-abroad/ |access-date=2023-06-27 |publisher=Harvard International Review|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140304052248/https://hir.harvard.edu/protecting-religious-freedom-abroad/ |archive-date=2014-03-04 }} He is a board member of the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.{{Cite web |last=Leo |first=Leonard |date=May 11, 2017 |title=A Judicial Renaissance? The Trump Administration & the Future of the Federal Judiciary |url=https://acton.org/event/2017/05/11/leonard-leo |access-date=August 20, 2018 |publisher=Acton Institute |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=May 5, 2017 |title=Leonard Leo receives religious liberty's highest honor |language=en-US |publisher=Becket Fund for Religious Liberty |url=https://www.becketlaw.org/media/leonard-leo-receives-religious-libertys-highest-honor/ |access-date=August 20, 2018}}

In 2012, Leo served on the boards of the Catholic Association and its affiliate Catholic Association Foundation, which ran campaigns opposing the legalization of same-sex marriage. In 2016, Leo received $120,000 for his work for the Catholic Association.

While Leo was the chairman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, a Muslim policy analyst filed a complaint against the group with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that she had been the victim of anti-Muslim discrimination.{{Cite news |last=Boorstein |first=Michelle |date=February 17, 2010 |title=Agency that monitors religious freedom abroad accused of bias |language=en-US |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/16/AR2010021605517.html |access-date=October 20, 2020 |issn=0190-8286}} Leo denied the claims of discrimination against the organization, and no specific claims were made regarding Leo.{{Cite web |date=December 2010 |title=U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom earns dismissal of EEOC's religious discrimination claims {{!}} Experience |url=https://www.jonesday.com/en/practices/experience/2010/12/us-commission-on-international-religious-freedom-earns-dismissal-of-eeocs-religious-discrimination-claims |access-date=2020-10-21 |website=www.jonesday.com |language=en}} The EEOC complaint was dismissed.

He has been a US delegate to the United Nations Council and the UN Commission on Human Rights, as well as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and World Health Assembly. Leo has been an observer at the World Intellectual Property Organization and as a member of the US National Commission to UNESCO.

Leo has been published in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Huffington Post.{{cite news |last=Leo |first=Leonard |date=January 9, 2006 |title=Thirty Questions for Alito: Finality and Fallibility |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/09/opinion/09leo.html |access-date=21 May 2014}}{{cite news |last1=Leo |first1=Leonard |last2=Argue |first2=Donald |date=April 12, 2010 |title=Nigeria's Descent Into Religious Strife |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303828304575179860046874350 |access-date=21 May 2014}}{{cite news |last=Leo |first=Leonard |date=January 19, 2011 |title=Confronting China's Failure on Religious Freedom |newspaper=The Huffington Post |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leonard-leo |access-date=21 May 2014}} He received the 2009 Bradley Prize.{{cite news |date=July 2009 |title=Bradley Prize recipient Leonard Leo begins chairmanship of religious-freedom commission |publisher=Bradley Foundation |url=http://www.bradleyfdn.org/On-Lion-Letter/ID/511/Bradley-Prize-recipient-Leonard-Leo-begins-chairmanship-of-religious-freedom-commission |access-date=21 May 2014 |archive-date=21 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521221025/http://www.bradleyfdn.org/On-Lion-Letter/ID/511/Bradley-Prize-recipient-Leonard-Leo-begins-chairmanship-of-religious-freedom-commission |url-status=dead }}

Leo has been on the board of directors of various organizations such as Reclaim New York, a charity with ties to conservative activists Rebekah Mercer and Steve Bannon; Liberty Central, a charity founded by Virginia Thomas, wife of Clarence Thomas; the Catholic Association and an affiliated charity, the Catholic Association Foundation; The National Catholic Prayer Breakfast; the Becket Law Fund; Students for Life; the Napa Legal Institute; the Youth Leadership Foundation; and the Board of Visitors at The Busch School of Business at Catholic University.{{Cite web |title=Board |url=https://www.becketlaw.org/about-us/board/ |access-date=2020-10-26 |website=Becket |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=March 1, 2019 |title=Our Board |url=https://studentsforlife.org/about/boardofdirectors/ |access-date=October 26, 2020 |website=Students for Life |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=About |url=https://catholicprayerbreakfast.com/about/ |access-date=2020-10-26 |website=National Catholic Prayer Breakfast |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=March 1, 2019 |title=Our Board |url=https://studentsforlife.org/about/boardofdirectors/ |access-date=2020-10-27 |website=Students for Life |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=NLI Website |url=https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/board/leonard-leo |access-date=2020-10-27 |website=www.napalegalinstitute.org}}{{Cite web |title=Bush names well known Christians to International Religious Freedom Commission |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/9359/bush-names-well-known-christians-to-international-religious-freedom-commission |access-date=October 27, 2020 |website=Catholic News Agency |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Leonard Leo |url=https://business.catholic.edu/about-us/board-of-visitors/leo-leonard%20/index.html |access-date=October 27, 2020 |website=The Catholic University of America |language=en}}

Leo is a member of the Council for National Policy, whose other members include Virginia Thomas, the wife of Clarence Thomas; Brent Bozell, founder of the Media Research Center; and Ralph Reed, chairman of the nonprofit Faith and Freedom Coalition.{{Cite news |last=O'Harrow |first=Robert Jr. |date=October 14, 2020 |title=Videos show closed-door sessions of leading conservative activists: 'Be not afraid of the accusations that you're a voter suppressor' |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/council-national-policy-video/2020/10/14/367f24c2-f793-11ea-a510-f57d8ce76e11_story.html |access-date=31 October 2020}}

In filings with the Federal Election Commission, Leo listed the BH Group as his employer. In 2018, the Judicial Crisis Network reported paying BH Group $1.2 million in fees.{{Cite news |last1=Biesecker |first1=Michael |last2=Slodysko |first2=Brian |title=Barrett ads tied to interest groups funded by unnamed donors |language=en-US |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/barrett-ads-tied-to-interest-groups-funded-by-unnamed-donors/2020/10/26/145b2f7a-17f6-11eb-8bda-814ca56e138b_story.html |access-date=2020-10-29 |issn=0190-8286}} In its first two years of existence, the BH Group received more than $4 million from the Judicial Crisis Network, its sister entity the Judicial Education Project and a third nonprofit, the Wellspring Committee. Leo is also the president of the Freedom and Opportunity Fund.

In 2016, after the death of US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, Leo helped finance the renaming of George Mason University's Law School to the Antonin Scalia Law School.{{cite news |last1=Sloan |first1=Karen |date=March 31, 2016 |title=George Mason Law School To Become Antonin Scalia School of Law |journal=The National Law Journal |url=http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202753798629/George-Mason-Law-School-To-Become-Antonin-Scalia-School-of-Law?slreturn=20160506160026 |access-date=6 June 2016}}

Leo is a Roman Catholic. He has seven children with his wife, Sally. Their daughter Margaret died in 2007 at the age of 14 from spina bifida. Leo has spoken about the profound impact her life had on him.{{Cite web|first=Melissa|last=Quinn|url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/inside-the-mind-of-leonard-leo-trumps-supreme-court-right-hand-man|title=Inside the mind of Leonard Leo, Trump's Supreme Court right-hand man|date=January 28, 2018|website=The Washington Examiner|language=en|access-date=June 10, 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-leo-court-search-20180706-story.html|title=Leonard Leo of the Federalist Society is the man to see if you aspire to the Supreme Court|last=Savage|first=David G.|website=Los Angeles Times|date=July 6, 2018|access-date=June 10, 2019}}

Leo is a knight of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, a Catholic lay religious order.{{Cite news|last=Michaelson|first=Jay|date=July 9, 2018|title=The Secrets of Leonard Leo, the Man Behind Trump's Supreme Court Pick|language=en|work=The Daily Beast|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-secrets-of-leonard-leo-the-man-behind-trumps-supreme-court-pick|access-date=October 20, 2020}}{{Cite web |title=Bilateral relations |url=https://www.orderofmalta.int/diplomatic-activities/bilateral-relations/ |access-date=March 9, 2022 |website=Order of Malta |language=en-US}} In October 2022, Leo was awarded the John Paul II New Evangelization Award by the Catholic Information Center.{{Cite web |title=2022 John Paul II New Evangelization Awardee |url=https://cicdc.org/2022-john-paul-ii-new-evangelization-awardee/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240528153056/https://cicdc.org/2022-john-paul-ii-new-evangelization-awardee/ |archive-date=2024-05-28 |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=Catholic Information Center |language=en-US}} In May 2023, Leo received an honorary doctorate from Benedictine College.{{Cite web |date=2023-05-15 |title=2023 Benedictine College Commencement |url=https://media.benedictine.edu/2023-benedictine-college-commencement |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240523171344/https://media.benedictine.edu/2023-benedictine-college-commencement |archive-date=2024-05-23 |access-date=2024-05-30 |website=Benedictine College |language=en-US}}

• Presidential Leadership: Rating the Best and the Worst in the White House (Simon & Schuster, 2004) {{ISBN|978-0743274081}}. Leo co-edited this volume with James Taranto.

{{Notelist|group=lower-alpha}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://fedsoc.org/contributors/leonard-leo Biography] on the Federalist Society website
• {{C-SPAN|41151}}
• [https://www.propublica.org/article/we-dont-talk-about-leonard-leo-supreme-court-supermajority "We Don't Talk About Leonard"] investigative series from ProPublica
• [https://www.thefp.com/p/leonard-leo-supreme-court Leonard Leo interview with Bari Weiss]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leo, Leonard}}

Category:1965 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century American lawyers

Category:20th-century American male writers

Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers

Category:20th-century Roman Catholics

Category:21st-century American lawyers

Category:21st-century American male writers

Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers

Category:21st-century Roman Catholics

Category:American legal writers

Category:American male non-fiction writers

Category:American people of Italian descent

Category:American Roman Catholic writers

Category:Catholics from New Jersey

Category:Catholics from Washington, D.C.

Category:Cornell Law School alumni

Category:Cornell University alumni

Category:Knights of Malta

Category:Lawyers from Middlesex County, New Jersey

Category:Lawyers from Washington, D.C.

Category:People from Monroe Township, Middlesex County, New Jersey

Category:People from Northport, New York

Category:Roman Catholic activists

Category:Washington, D.C., Republicans