- Conservative activist Leonard Leo spent decades turning federal courts to the right
- He oversees a large network of groups that support the advocacy of conservative judges.
- But one recent PR campaign centered around Judge Clarence Thomas, The Washington Post reported.
A multi-year public relations campaign praising and defending Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas can be traced to a network of nonprofits linked to prominent conservative activists. The Washington Post reported.
Co-president of the Federalist Society, Leonard Leo, has spent decades pushing the federal courts to the right by leveraging a large network of nonprofits in formal and informal roles.
Leo has used his network to help confirm every conservative Supreme Court justice for the past 20 years, according to the paper. But another recent campaign was directed at Judge Thomas, who has already spent nearly 30 years in court.
The effort includes the 2020 release of a two-hour film about Thomas’ upbringing called Created Equal. Websites that celebrate the life of Thomas and challenge sexual harassment allegations by Anita Hill.and further Twitter fan account Nearly 30,000 followers. The effort cost at least $1.8 million from conservative nonprofits with ties to Leo, according to the newspaper.
The campaign began in early 2016, when HBO was planning to release a movie, “Confirmation,” that focused on Hill’s allegations of misconduct during Thomas’ nomination hearing in 1991, the newspaper reports. The film starred Kerry Washington as Hill and Wendell Pierce as Thomas.
Marc Paoletta, a former Trump aide, attorney and close friend of Mr. Thomas, was tapped to lead the elaborate public relations campaign. A nonprofit called the Judicial Education Project paid lawyers about $300,000 in 2016 as a “media project,” according to the Times.
The newspaper said Leo had no formal role in the nonprofit judicial education project. Still, he previously told the newspaper that he was an adviser to the organization.
Paoletta did not respond to requests for comment after hours and on weekends.
After reviewing the script, Paoletta denounced the HBO film, writing to then-HBO president on March 7, 2016, claiming the film contained “numerous distortions, omissions and fabrications” intended to reinforce Hill’s “credibility and slander”.
HBO President Len Amato said, Disputed allegations against Politico He said there was no “intent” behind the film and that it was “totally equal”.
Around the time the film was released, lawyers began posting op-eds to conservative media. daily caller, national reviewand Washington Examinerdefending Thomas and attacking the film.
Paoletta also turned to Virginia-based PR firm Javelin for help with launching the website. Confirmation bias.comdisputing or “fact-checking” the film.
“I was determined not to let these lies stand, so I reached out to Javelin to help me fight back with a greater media presence,” Paoletta told the Post.
Records and interviews obtained by the Post reveal that Paoletta worked with another public relations firm called CRC Public Relations (now CRC Advisors, chaired by Leo) to launch a website and social media accounts.
Around September 2016, the CRC helped create a Twitter fan account to post Thomas’ words and video clips of the judge, according to the paper. A biography on the account shows that it is run by the Judicial Crisis Network, a non-profit organization also led by Leo, although his name does not appear on the organization’s tax returns. The New York Times previously reported How Leo worked closely with the group during approval hearings.
The company also anitahillcase.comdedicated to challenging Hill’s allegations, Justice Thomas.comand praise Thomas.
“This site is dedicated to Justice Clarence Thomas and his 30 years of jurisprudence on the United States Supreme Court,” the website reads. “Since its ratification on October 15, 1991, Judge Thomas has staunchly defended the constitution’s original meaning.”
According to the paper, Paoletta will also enlist the help of conservative filmmaker Michael Puck to produce Created Equal, which will feature only interviews with Thomas and his wife Ginny Thomas. Funders of the film included the Judicial Education Project and the Crow family.
Harlan Crow recently made headlines Survey of ProPublica It revealed how Republican donors poured Thomas with extravagant gifts.
The Judicial Crisis Network (JCN) also spent $1.5 million promoting the film during Kentanji Brown Jackson’s approval hearings in 2022. one ad He lashed out at Jackson, saying he “didn’t understand” how Thomas came to be black and conservative.of The comment was made several years ago In the 2007 Thomas biography Supreme Discomfort: The Split Soul of Clarence Thomas.
A JCN spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment sent over the weekend.
The film later published a book of the same name, in which Puck said Paoletta was the “unknown and uncredited executive producer” of “Created Equal,” The Post reported.
In a statement to the Post, Paoletta confirmed that the work she paid for the judicial education project was related to Thomas and that “a group of good friends of mine, Leonard Leo, funded this work.”
A spokeswoman for the Federalist Association did not respond to a request for comment sent over the weekend.