Business leaders donate to anti-abortion groups
Demonstrators hold signs during a protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court, after the leak of a draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito preparing for a majority of the court to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision later this year, in Washington, May 3, 2022.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
Donald Trump’s judicial advisor Leonard Leo stood in front of a group of over a dozen Republican and libertarian-leaning donors in July 2018 at the Broadmoor resort in Colorado Springs. Billionaire Charles Koch‘s allies had gathered there to discuss, among other things, then-President Trump’s Supreme Court nominees, including the newly chosen Brett Kavanagh.
The meeting that summer at the Koch-backed retreat shows how people in Trump’s orbit kept the wealthiest business leaders in the country up to date as he chose three conservative high court justices — Neil Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and later Amy Coney Barrett — who would help to decide the fate of the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion rights decision. Financiers who contributed at least $100,000 to the political organization were previously invited to attend Koch’s biannual meeting of top conservative donors.
“Courage is really important to this president, more than any other president I’ve ever dealt with on these issues,” Leo told donors at the time in describing an attribute Trump looks for in his judges, according to notes taken by an attendee who wished to remain anonymous in order to share private information. “He understands that whoever gets picked has to have been through some crucible, some trial by fire in their life. So that he knows that they are going to be absolutely solid.”
The leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion showed the 6-3 conservative court majority cemented during Trump’s White House term could soon overturn the constitutionally protected right to an abortion. If issued this summer, such a ruling would also mark a triumph for anti-abortion groups who for years have wanted the court to overturn Roe. Those organizations have received a big financial boost from a handful of wealthy and influential business leaders.
The draft decision that would upend nearly 50 years of precedent has sparked uproar among abortion rights supporters and a fundraising boom for Democrats. On the other side of the debate, Michael Warsaw, the CEO of Catholic broadcaster Eternal Word Television Network, told CNBC in a statement that the leaked draft was “encouraging” but that “it would be premature to state that it is a victory” before the court issues a final opinion.
The network, which opposes abortion, has ties to the business community. At its launch in the 1980s, the network was funded by people including the late Harry G. John, an heir the Miller Brewing fortune, and New Orleans real estate developer Joseph Canizaro. In 2019, the TV network contributed $10,000 to Susan B. Anthony List, a group that lobbies and publicly opposes abortion, according to the company’s 990 filing from that…