House Republicans Intervene in Leonard Leo Investigation
View this email in your browser ([link removed])
** CfA's November 3, 2023 Newsletter
------------------------------------------------------------
With your support, Campaign for Accountability is working to expose corruption and hold the powerful accountable.
** This Week's Updates:
------------------------------------------------------------
House Republicans Intervene in Leonard Leo Investigation
Earlier this week, Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH-4) and James Comer (R-KY-1) wrote a letter ([link removed]) to DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb demanding that he hand over communications related to his office’s investigation of Leonard Leo – the conservative fundraiser who shaped President Trump’s Supreme Court and controls over a billion dollars ([link removed].) in donor cash. According to Politico ([link removed]) , Schwalb is investigating Leo’s network of organizations for potential violations of nonprofit law related to personal enrichment, as previous reporting revealed an abrupt change ([link removed]) in
Leo’s spending habits following an infusion of funding into his tax-exempt organizations.
Back in April, CfA urged both Schwalb and the IRS ([link removed]) to investigate seven nonprofits which appeared to have funneled millions of dollars to Leo – a possible violation of the agency’s rules against private inurement. CfA laid out how these organizations directly or indirectly paid Leo a total of $73 million from 2016 to 2020, despite his full-time employment at the Federalist Society. An attorney for Leo confirmed that he was being investigated by Schwalb’s office, but claimed that the case had no merit because some of Leo’s organizations were registered outside of DC. As Politico’s Heidi Przybyla points out ([link removed]) , though, Leo’s private consulting firm and one of his primary nonprofits are still based in the District, and therefore fall under Schwalb’s jurisdiction.
Senate Judiciary Committee to Subpoena Supreme Court Power Players
On Tuesday, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced ([link removed]) that he would be perusing subpoenas for Harlan Crow, Leonard Leo, and Robin Arkley II – all of whom appear to be involved with organizing or financing luxurious gifts for conservative Supreme Court justices. Judiciary Ranking Member Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has vowed to oppose the subpoenas, which cannot be enforced with the support of at least 60 senators. Efforts to voluntarily extract information from Crow, Leo, and Arkley have been fruitless, according to a statement ([link removed]) from Sen. Durbin. Though the subpoenas are unlikely to move forward, they do draw attention to the issue of ethics at the court, and could deter future overtures from wealthy individuals with business before the justices.
New Meta Whistleblower Set to Testify Before Senate
Last night, the Wall Street Journal dropped a bombshell report ([link removed]) on Meta’s failure to protect teen users from bullying, sexual harassment, and harmful content – all issues that former Meta employee Arturo Béjar worked to combat as a member of the company’s Wellbeing team. Now, he has come forward as a whistleblower, and has told the WSJ that he does not believe Meta is capable of change from within. Béjar also consulted with the state attorneys general who sued Meta last month – a previous TTP newsletter ([link removed]) examined his testimony, as well as an earlier interview ([link removed]) in which he described the working environment he experienced at Facebook. The WSJ reports that Béjar will testify in a Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing next Tuesday.
The hearing agenda ([link removed]) has yet to be released, but the proceedings will likely build on earlier hearings regarding social media reform ([link removed]) and platform accountability ([link removed]) , which both had technology companies on the defensive. Béjar’s testimony in the state lawsuits has already contained some heavy accusations; he told Vermont officials ([link removed]) that he believed Meta had adopted “prevalence” metrics to deliberately manipulate public perception, because they obscured the true frequency of harmful content and created a distorted image of safety.
The states’ complaints focus on recommendation algorithms used by Meta, which are designed to drive user engagement and maximize ad revenue with little regard for wellbeing. Interestingly, YouTube announced on Thursday that it would be changing ([link removed]) its algorithms to avoid recommending content to teens that “idealizes unhealthy standards or behaviors” – something that Meta was also accused of in the states’ lawsuits. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-MA), who will be chairing the Senate Judiciary Hearing, has been deeply critical of Meta ([link removed]) and the role its algorithms have played in driving eating disorders. In 2021, Blumenthal’s office created a fake Instagram account
([link removed]) for a 13-year-old girl who was interested in dieting and weight loss. Almost immediately, Instagram began recommending content that promoted disordered eating. “Meta had ample chances to clean up its act,” Blumenthal wrote on X ([link removed]) last night. “Instead it backtracked on its commitment & misled Congress. The lesson is Big Tech won’t reform itself.”
What We're Reading
Judge finds Eastman culpable for ethics breaches in 2020 bid to keep Trump in power ([link removed])
Crypto faces world of legal clashes even after SBF trial ([link removed])
The Supreme Court Will Decide if Domestic Abuse Orders Can Bar People From Having Guns. Lives Could Be at Stake. ([link removed])
** Follow Our Work:
------------------------------------------------------------
We thank you for your continued support. Without people like you, our work would not be possible.
Here is how you can stay involved and help us accomplish our mission:
1. Follow CfA on Twitter ([link removed]) .
2. Follow the Tech Transparency Project on Twitter ([link removed]) .
3. Tell your friends and colleagues ([link removed]) about CfA.
4. Send us a tip ([link removed]) .
5. Make a tax-deductible donation ([link removed]) .
Be on the lookout for more updates about our work in the upcoming weeks. Thanks again for signing up to be a part of CfA!
Sincerely,
Michelle Kuppersmith
Executive Director, Campaign for Accountability
============================================================
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
Copyright © 2023 Campaign for Accountability, All rights reserved.
You signed up for this list at campaignforaccountability.org
Our mailing address is:
Campaign for Accountability
611 Pennsylvania Ave SE
#337
Washington, District Of Columbia 20003
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.
Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp
[link removed]
