Inside the "Private and Confidential" Conservative Group That Promises to "Crush Liberal Dominance"

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Oh. Well. This is all terrifying

🚨 I’ve got a juicy story to tell you about Leonard Leo.

Last time we checked in with Leo, we revealed details about a $1.6 BILLION gift he'd received.

That huge donation begged the question:

What will Leo do next?

Answer: “Crush liberal dominance.”

How?

It's 🧵 time
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Inside the “Private and Confidential” Conservative Group That Promises to “Crush Liberal Dominance”

Leonard Leo, a key architect of the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority, is now the chairman of Teneo Network, a group that aims to influence all aspects of American politics and culture.

by Andy Kroll and Andrea Bernstein, ProPublica, and Nick Surgey, Documented
March 9, 7 a.m. EST

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.

A few months ago, Leonard Leo laid out his next audacious project. ... Ever since the longtime Federalist Society leader helped create a conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court, and then received more than a billion dollars from a wealthy Chicago business owner to disburse to conservative causes, Leo’s next moves had been the subject of speculation. ... Now, Leo declared in a slick but private video to potential donors, he planned to “crush liberal dominance” across American life. The country was plagued by “woke-ism” in corporations and education, “one-sided journalism” and “entertainment that’s really corrupting our youth,” said Leo amid snippets of cheery music and shots of sunsets and American flags.

Sitting tucked into a couch, with wire-rimmed glasses and hair gone to gray, Leo conveyed his inspiration and intentions: “I just said to myself, ‘Well, if this can work for law, why can’t it work for lots of other areas of American culture and American life where things are really messed up right now?’” ... Leo revealed his latest battle plan in the previously unreported video for the Teneo Network, a little-known group he called “a tremendously important resource for the future of our country.” ... Teneo is building what Leo called in the video “networks of conservatives that can roll back” liberal influence in Wall Street and Silicon Valley, among authors and academics, with pro athletes and Hollywood producers. A Federalist Society for everything.

{snip}

The records show Teneo’s members have included a host of prominent names from the conservative vanguard, including such elected officials as U.S. Sens. J.D. Vance of Ohio and Missouri’s Josh Hawley, a co-founder of the group. Other members have included Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, now the fourth-ranking House Republican, as well as Nebraska’s attorney general and Virginia’s solicitor general. Three senior aides to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, are members. Another is the federal judge who struck down a Biden administration mask mandate. The heads of the Republican Attorneys General Association, Republican State Leadership Committee and Turning Point USA — all key cogs in the world of national conservative politics — have been listed as Teneo members.

Conservative media figures like Ben Shapiro of the Daily Wire, several pro athletes and dozens of executives and senior figures in the worlds of finance, energy and beyond have also been members. ... Leo joined Teneo’s board of directors as chairman in 2021 and has since become a driving force.

{snip}

Do you have information about Leonard Leo or the Teneo Network that we should know? Reporter Andy Kroll can be reached via email at [e-mail] or via Signal at 202-215-6203.

Clarification, March 9, 2023: The subheadline with this story was updated to clarify that Leonard Leo is now the chairman of Teneo Network.

Virginia's Solicitor General

Andrew Ferguson
Solicitor General

Andrew earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia, where he was an articles editor of the Virginia Law Review. After law school, he clerked for Judge Karen L. Henderson on the D.C. Circuit and Justice Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court of the United States. He also practiced law at several D.C. law firms. Before his appointment as Solicitor General, Andrew served as Chief Counsel to the U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). He had previously served as Chief Counsel for Nominations and the Constitution to then-Chairman Lindsey Graham and as Senior Special Counsel to then-Chairman Chuck Grassley.

[halfulglas]

1. Liberal influence in Wall Street and Silicon Valley. Really?

What is he smoking?

[winetourdriver01]

2. I know

Is this guy high or what?