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Media Roundtable: Republican megadonor Barre Seid’s $1.6B donation to a new group run by Federalist Society co-chair Leonard Leo

On this edition of Your Call's Media Roundtable, we're discussing the influence of dark money on American politics. A recent investigation by The Lever and ProPublica reveals how Barre Seid, a conservative billionaire, donated $1.6 billion to a new group run by Federalist Society co-chair Leonard Leo, who guided Donald Trump’s Supreme Court picks and helped end federal abortion rights.

The structure of the donation allowed Seid to avoid as much as $400 million in taxes. Thus, he maximized the amount of money at Leo’s disposal, according to the report. The Center for Media and Democracy notes that Seid is "closely allied with the Koch network and funnels dark money through the same groups used by the Kochs, including Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund."

Guest:

Andy Kroll, investigative reporter for ProPublica, and author of the forthcoming book, A Death on W Street: The Murder of Seth Rich and the Age of Conspiracy

Web Resources:

ProPublica: How a Secretive Billionaire Handed His Fortune to the Architect of the Right-Wing Takeover of the Courts

The New York Times: An Unusual $1.6 Billion Donation Bolsters Conservatives

Daily Beast: New Right-Wing Megadonor Barre Seid Has Sparked Huge Controversy Before

Slate: The Truly Scary Part of the $1.6 Billion Conservative Donation

Malihe Razazan is the senior producer of KALW's daily call-in program, Your Call.
Rose Aguilar has been the host of Your Call since 2006. She became a regular media roundtable guest in 2001. In 2019, the San Francisco Press Club named Your Call the best public affairs program. In 2017, The Nation named it the most valuable local radio show.