Report: Single donor gave $28.5 million to 'dark money' group touting Gorsuch for Supreme Court
DENVER – A single person gave $28.5 million to a nonprofit whose "dark money" was eventually used to buy ads touting Colorado’s Neil Gorsuch for the U.S. Supreme Court seat he was eventually confirmed to, according to a new report from MapLight.
According to tax documents obtained from the Wellspring Committee, a Virginia nonprofit, the committee received more than $32 million in donations—much of the money anonymously donated because of the organization’s social welfare 501(c)(4) status.
The report says Wellspring had never received more than $13.2 million in a year before 2016, and that most of the $32 million came from one anonymous donor who shelled out $28.5 million.
Wellspring in turn donated $23 million to the Judicial Crisis Network, according to MapLight.
The Judicial Crisis Network—which was originally created as the “Judicial Confirmation network” to help confirm judiciary appointees of President George W. Bush’s, according to the Center for Responsive Politics—then spent at least $7 million in advertising against President Barack Obama’s appointment to the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland, according to MapLight and several other reports.
And shortly after President Donald Trump named Gorsuch as his pick for the Supreme Court in January, the Judicial Crisis Network launched a website called ConfirmGorsuch.com touting Gorsuch’s credentials, and said it would spend $10 million on advertising and lobbyists to get Gorsuch confirmed, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Reporting from MapLight and the Center for Responsive Politics shows that the Wellspring Committee and Judicial Crisis Network are linked by Ann and Neil Corkery, who have both had top positions within one of the organizations, or both, in the past.
