WASHINGTON (CN) — House Republicans are sharpening their pitchforks for Washington D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, accusing the top prosecutor Monday of attempting a political hack job against a prominent conservative legal activist.
Reports emerged in August that Schwalb was investigating Leonard Leo, founder of the conservative legal group the Federalist Society, amid reports that he had funneled millions of dollars through one of his nonprofit organizations into a for-profit company.
The investigation, first reported by Politico, came after the Campaign for Accountability, a progressive watchdog organization, petitioned the Internal Revenue Service to investigate.
Now, top Republicans from the House Judiciary Committee and House Committee on Oversight are taking aim at Schwalb’s inquiry, accusing him of putting his thumb on the scale.
“Given prior attempts by state attorneys general to target conservative nonprofits and their donors — and your apparent political motivations for investigating Mr. Leo — the committees are concerned about potential infringement on free association and donor privacy,” Ohio Representative Jim Jordan and Kentucky Representative James Comer told the Washington attorney general in a letter dated Monday.
The lawmakers argued that the Campaign for Accountability had not provided evidence to support claims that Leo had personally enriched himself through his nonprofits, and cast aspersions on Schwalb, suggesting that his inquiry was “improper and politically motivated.” The nonprofit in question, known as the 85 Fund, was until recently incorporated in Virginia but has since moved to Texas. The organization had a mailing address based in D.C.
Jordan and Comer also contended that Leo’s activities as a private donor are protected under existing judicial precedent, pointing to the Supreme Court’s 1958 decision in NAACP v. Alabama in which then-Justice John Harlan held that a citizen’s ability to associate with an advocacy group falls under the First Amendment’s freedom of assembly rights.
The House Republicans also attempted to frame Schwalb’s investigation as a distraction from what they called an “alarming rise in crime” in Washington.
“Instead of using your office’s substantial resources to address these problems, your office has reportedly decided to dedicate those resources to a politically motivated probe,” Jordan and Comer wrote, which they argued could chill free speech.
“The committees will not tolerate any efforts to undermine donor privacy and chill association of American citizens,” the lawmakers said.
Jordan and Comer demanded that Schwalb turn over all documents and communications related to his reported investigation into Leo.
A spokesperson for the Washington attorney general did not immediately return a request for comment.
Leo’s nonprofits aren’t the only ventures Schwalb is reportedly investigating. Politico reported this month that the attorney general is also looking into Arabella Advisors, a left-leaning consulting firm.
The reported inquiry into Leo comes as Senate Democrats are investigating the conservative donor’s role in facilitating the ethically questionable conduct of Supreme Court justices. Lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee are looking into reports that Leo organized a 2008 fishing trip between Justice Samuel Alito and a Republican billionaire who later had business before the court.
Leo, through his attorney David B. Rivkin, has so far refused to comply with the Senate’s investigation, arguing that lawmakers are attempting to legislate ethics reform at the country’s high court in violation of the Constitution’s separation of powers doctrine.
That hasn’t stopped Rivkin — a partner at Washington-based law firm Baker & Hostetler — from getting involved. The attorney, slated to argue a major tax case before the Supreme Court this term, interviewed Alito in August alongside Wall Street Journal features editor James Taranto.
During the interview, the justice blasted Senate Democrats’ proposed bill aimed at forcing the high court to adopt a code of ethics, a move panned by both lawmakers and legal experts.
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