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The 85 Fund

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  • Comment: Likely undisclosed WP:COI per editing history and possible WP:SPI issue. Please consider this issue further while reviewing for WP:NPOV. Snowycats (talk) 02:29, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

The Judicial Education Project (known legally since December 2019 as The 85 Fund[1][2]) is a 501(c)(3) organization based in Washington D.C. Its Principal Officer is Carrie Severino, the President of the Judicial Crisis Network, with which it is closely affiliated.[3] It is closely connected with Leonard Leo, the vice-President of the Federalist Society. [2][4]

Funding

In 2018, more than 99% of the Judicial Education Project’s funding came from a single $7.8m donation from DonorsTrust.[1][5] According to its IRS filings, between 2012 and 2017, the Judicial Education project claimed more than $46,000,000 dollars in total revenue.[6]

Political Activity

The Judicial Education Network donated $300,000 to the Independent Women’s Forum, a conservative non-profit.[7]

Honest Elections Project

In April 2020, the Honest Elections Project, announced it was launching a week-long $250,000 digital and television ad campaign on Fox News, MSNBC and CNN against mail-in voting.[8]

Lawyers contracted by the Honest Elections Project have sent letters to the Secretaries of State in Colorado, Florida, and Michigan to lobby for purges of voter rolls in these states.[9][10][11] The Guardian reported that these letters used "misleading data to accuse jurisdictions of having bloated voter rolls" and threatened legal action.[1][12] The Honest Elections Project has filed legal briefs in favor of voting restrictions in Nevada, Virginia, Texas, and Minnesota.[1] Much of this legal activity was undertaken by William S. Consovoy, one of Donald Trump's personal attorneys.[1][13]

Its primary web address was at one time https://hardtovote.honestelections.org/.

Other Payments

Judicial Education Project's 2017 tax returns disclosed a payment of $675,000 to the BH Group, the employer of Leonard Leo.[1][14]

Former officials

The former President of the Judicial Education Network was Neil Corkery

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Revealed: conservative group fighting to restrict voting tied to powerful dark money network". the Guardian. 2020-05-27. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  2. ^ a b Treene, Jonathan Swan,Alayna. "Leonard Leo to shape new conservative network, step aside from the Federalist Society". Axios. Retrieved 2020-10-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ https://www.guidestar.org/profile/20-2466871
  4. ^ "Wealthy donors pour millions into fight over mail-in voting". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  5. ^ NW, The Center for Responsive Politics 1300 L. St; Washington, Suite 200; info, DC 20005 telelphone857-0044 (2020-05-27). "Conservative 'dark money' network rebranded to push voting restrictions before 2020 election". OpenSecrets News. Retrieved 2020-10-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ ProPublica, Mike Tigas, Sisi Wei, Ken Schwencke, Brandon Roberts, Alec Glassford. "Judicial Education Project - Nonprofit Explorer". ProPublica. Retrieved 2020-10-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ NW, The Center for Responsive Politics 1300 L. St; Washington, Suite 200; info, DC 20005 telelphone857-0044 (2020-01-02). "Trump judicial adviser's 'dark money' network hides Supreme Court spending". OpenSecrets News. Retrieved 2020-10-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ UTC, Leigh Ann Caldwell194d ago / 5:00 PM. "Conservative group to launch ads opposing mail-in voting". www.nbcnews.com. Retrieved 2020-10-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ https://www.honestelections.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Colorado-Pre-litigation-Notice.pdf
  10. ^ https://www.honestelections.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Florida-Pre-litigation-Notice.pdf
  11. ^ https://www.honestelections.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Michigan-Pre-litigation-Notice.pdf
  12. ^ "Calls for More Purges Rest on Shaky Data | Brennan Center for Justice". www.brennancenter.org. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  13. ^ Marimow, Ann E. "Coming to Trump's defense: An unconventional lawyer for an unconventional president". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2020-10-25.
  14. ^ NW, The Center for Responsive Politics 1300 L. St; Washington, Suite 200; info, DC 20005 telelphone857-0044 (2020-01-02). "Trump judicial adviser's 'dark money' network hides Supreme Court spending". OpenSecrets News. Retrieved 2020-10-25.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

Judicial Education Project