– Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (RS.C.), noted during Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearing as Supreme Court Justice, March 21
Arabella Advisors has become an all-purpose evil for Republicans – a “dark money” group that pushes liberal causes, but that’s not exactly how they work. But Graham’s accusation here – that the Arab legislature has threatened with primary challenges – is rather out of place and lacks much foundation.
Since the Supreme Court in its 2010 Citizens United Case allows companies – including nonprofits that do not disclose their donors – to spend unlimited amounts on campaigns, tens of millions of dollars have been spent to influence the course of judicial nominations.
The nonprofits benefit from the Citizens United Judgments are required to spend a majority of their money on activities that have nothing to do with elections. Because the justice candidates are not directly involved in the elections, the groups can go free – without counting as an election activity.
Democrats vehemently opposed it Citizens United govern and initially decide dark money. But then they embraced it out of fear of moving. A liberal group called Demand Justice, led by former aides to Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama, jumped into the fray over Brett M. Kavanaugh. Then in the 2020 election, the 15 most active dark money groups affiliated with Democrats actually raised more money than the 15 most politically active groups aligned with Republicans, according to a New York Times analysis.
So what does this have to do with Arabella? Demand Justice has been tangentially linked to Arabella, but not since last May.
Arabella Advisors essentially provides back-office support, compliance assistance, and grant processing to liberal philanthropic and nonprofit groups, including groups integrated so that they receive donations from unknown donors. Profit-Arabella has raised management costs worth nearly $ 50 million from groups that spent nearly $ 1.2 billion by 2020.
As for Soros, Graham’s reference is incorrectly placed. The Open Society Foundations, founded by Soros, have provided grants to some Arabella clients, but that is not something Arabella has asked for. OSF also reveals on its website who it donates to – that’s how the donations are known – so this is not particularly “dark.”
Eric Kessler (not related to Fact Checker) is the founder and senior managing director of Arabella and is also listed in the Internal Revenue Service as Chairman of the Board (until mid-2021) of the Sixteen Thirty Fund. Until recently, Sixteen Thirty, which raised $ 144 million in 2019, included Demand Justice as one of the dozens of organizations it funded.
But Demand Justice was abolished and became independent in 2021, registering as its own 501 (c) (4) nonprofit. According to DC Corporate records, this happened on May 5 – almost nine months before Justice Stephen G. Breyer announced his retirement.
Some liberals and working groups have expressed definite inconvenience with the possibility of Judge J. Michelle Childs, one of the finalists being nominated by President Biden’s Supreme Court. She was supported by a close Biden ally, House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (DS.C.). But she represented companies in work and discrimination cases. This alarms, among others, people affiliated with Communications Workers of America, the Association of Flight Attendants and Our Revolution, a campaign organization launched six years ago by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) Was founded.
Demand Justice compiles a “shortlist” of 43 potential Supreme Court picks; Jackson was on it and Childs was not. The group also ran an ad campaign in 2021, which called for Breyer to retire shortly before it was abolished from the Sixteen Thirty Fund.
Kevin Bishop, a Graham spokesman, sent us five articles as evidence for the senator’s comment. Four only detailed the liberal and labor concerns about the children and no one mentioned Demand Justice. Separately, we found an article citing a letter signed by Demand Justice and 11 other liberal groups, in which the President called for “building on your commitment to professional diversity by appointing someone with civil rights or public defense experience to the Supreme Court.” Of Biden’s three finalists – the other being California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger – only Jackson would have met that criterion.
But we did not find any reporting claiming that Demand Justice supported an anti-childs campaign – alone one that threatened the primary challenges faced by legislators who supported it.
The bishop also sent a fifth article, which is on the news page associated with the Heritage Foundation. This article noted Arabella’s “ties,” as well as the fact that a former on-demand justice lawyer is now working on Biden White House court hearings. But the article also offered no support for Graham’s claim.
Steve Sampson, spokesman for Arabella Advisors, told the Fact Checker in an email: “As we said earlier, Arabella Advisors is a business. We have no involvement in the nomination of Judge Brown’s Supreme Court. We have no contact. with the White House or Senate Judiciary Committee about their nomination or the approval process, and we did not propose any involvement with election activities like Sen. Graham this morning.
“Judging by the aggressive nature of the opposition against Judge Childs of far-left groups that we have documented, it definitely implies that any Democratic senator who would support her would have paid a price on the ballot,” the bishop said. . “Judge Childs had strong bipartisan support in the Senate. She also had the strong support of the # 3 Democrat in the US House of Representatives. Instead, her candidacy was undermined by the left wing of the Democratic Party.
“Definitely implied” is not quite the same as a “based said” threat that a primary opponent would emerge. In addition, no evidence was provided by Graham’s staff showing that Arellala was behind these attacks. Arabella, as far as we can tell, is a back-office processor – not a fighter in Supreme Court battles. Requesting Justice at one point was connected to an Arabella client, but not anymore – and even then, the connection is pretty fuzzy.
Graham may be upset that Childs’ appointment was opposed by some Liberals and working groups, but he should not be so quick to dismiss such accusations without proof. He deserves four Pinocchios.
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