The “law firm” of Jordan & Comer is springing to action to protect conservative activist Leonard Leo.
Reps. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and James Comer, R-Ky. — the chairmen of the House Judiciary and Oversight committees, respectively — are attempting to meddle in the District of Columbia attorney general’s purported investigation of the co-chairman of the Federalist Society, the powerful right-wing organization fueled by dark money. Leo has also reportedly helped connect conservative officials — including Supreme Court justices — with rich donors.
In March, Politico reported that one of Leo’s nonprofits that had been registered as a charity paid tens of millions of dollars to his for-profit company. Soon after, the liberal watchdog group Campaign for Accountability filed a complaint asking the IRS and the D.C. attorney general to investigate. In August, Politico reported that D.C.’s AG, Brian Schwalb, had opened an investigation into Leo and his nonprofit network, yet offered no specifics about its scope.
And Schwalb’s office — predictably — wouldn’t even confirm or deny the probe’s existence. An attorney for Leo told Politico that his client would not be cooperating.
On Monday, the House Judiciary and Oversight chairs sent a letter to Schwalb, demanding documents and communications related to Leo. They wrote:
The Committees are concerned that your office’s investigation may be improper and politically motivated. First, it appears that your office does not have jurisdiction over this matter because Mr. Leo and the organizations with which he is affiliated are, according to publicly available information, based outside of Washington, D.C. Worse yet, the Committees are troubled that your investigation could infringe upon the fundamental rights of donor privacy and free association.
I’ll tell you what that sounds like to me: “Hands off our right-wing cash cow!” Jordan, in particular, has become known for this kind of prosecutorial meddling. He issued a similar demand to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Georgia, earning him a rebuke for the ages. And he did the exact same thing with special counsel Jack Smith, demanding files related to the federal prosecution of former President Donald Trump over his handling of classified documents. Now it seems that Jordan and Comer are working in tandem as makeshift defense attorneys, using their posts to try to shield another powerful right-winger from legal scrutiny.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog. Recommended
