Biden nominee’s confirmation fight fueled by dueling ‘dark money’ groups

U.S. associate attorney general nominee Vanita Gupta. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The 2020 election and inauguration of a new president have passed but the “dark money” war is far from over as opaque nonprofits pour millions into the fight surrounding confirmation of President Joe Biden’s nominees. 

Vanita Gupta, President Biden’s pick for associate attorney general, is scheduled to face the Senate Judiciary Committee in a confirmation hearing on March 9, and she’s become a prime target for secretly funded groups.

One $800,000 ad campaign accuses Gupta of supporting the “defund the police” movement. It’s paid for by the Judicial Crisis Network, a 501(c)(4) that does not disclose its donors. Gupta, who served as head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division under President Barack Obama, has said she never supported defunding the police.

The ad campaign was part of a coordinated effort targeting Biden nominees in collaboration with the conservative 501(c)(3) nonprofit Americans for Public Trust and 501(c)(4) Heritage Action for America, an arm of the Heritage Foundation that does not disclose its donors despite spending to influence elections.  

Judicial Crisis Network has operated as the preeminent vehicle for deep-pocketed conservative donors to quietly funnel millions of dollars into Supreme Court confirmation fights for more than a decade.

Judicial Crisis Network also contributed to multiple groups involved in the Jan. 6 rally that escalated when many participants stormed the Capitol in a violent insurrection. The group gave at least $4.7 million to the Tea Party Patriots, $50,000 to Turning Point Action and $1.9 million to the Rule of Law Defense Fund from 2013 to 2019, according to OpenSecrets’ review of its tax records. The Rule of Law Defense Fund’s affiliated Republican Attorneys General Association got millions more

Judicial Crisis Network received $6 million from a secretive 501(c)(4) nonprofit called BH Fund, according to the fund’s most recent tax return obtained by OpenSecrets. In 2019, the BH Fund shelled out more than $12 million in grants and did little else. At the end of the year, the organization had whittled down its leftover assets to $7.2 million.

The two nonprofits are part of a network of closely-tied dark money groups tied to Leonard Leo, a top outside adviser to former President Donald Trump who orchestrated unprecedented efforts to remake the federal judiciary with conservative judges. 

 The income of another related group, Rule of Law Trust, dropped from more than $80.4 million in 2018 to less than $1.8 million 2019. The little-known 501(c)(4) nonprofit gave nearly $1.4 million in grants, ending the year with $78.4 million in leftover assets from the prior year, according to its most recent tax return obtained by OpenSecrets

The Rule of Law Trust passed $895,000 to America Engaged and paid $2.1 million to BH Group LLC, which the tax return describes as being 35 percent owned by Leo, the Rule of Law Trust’s sole trustee. 

BH Group is a limited-liability company that made a $1 million donation to Trump’s inaugural committee and has raked in more than $5.7 million from secret donors through the interlocking groups tied to Leo. Creative Response Concepts, a consulting firm co-founded by Leo, has received over $4.7 million from the network. 

Gupta’s nomination has attracted support from individuals and organizations across the partisan spectrum that have varying degrees of disclosure. 

A $1 million “Confirm Gupta” ad campaign is paid for by Defending Democracy Together, the top-spending 501(c)(4) dark money group of the 2020 election cycle with more than $15.4 million in spending boosting President Biden or opposing former President Trump. 

In January, Defending Democracy Together launched the Republican Accountability Project with the aim of raising $50 million from undisclosed donors to encourage lawmakers to break with Trump after the attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The “Confirm Gupta” campaign’s 30-second political ad highlights support from individuals and organizations across the partisan spectrum. The group is airing TV ads in Alaska, Arizona, Maine, West Virginia and other states whose senators’ votes could be crucial for Gupta’s confirmation.

Biden’s nomination of Gupta received praise from various law enforcement interest groups including the National Fraternal Order of Police, the Major Cities Chiefs Association, the National Sheriffs’ Association and the International Association of Chiefs of Police, all of which have a lobbying presence at the federal level. Gupta’s supporters on the right include former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steel and Mark Holden, Koch Industries’ former executive who sent in a letter supporting her nomination. Gupta previously collaborated with Koch Industries on criminal justice reform issues. Americans for Tax Reform’s president, Grover Norquist, and formerNational Rifle Association president David Keene have also reportedly been among her supporters, according to the Guardian.

The Lincoln Project, another anti-Trump group launched by conservatives, released an ad further pushing back on attacks against Gupta and fellow Biden nominee Kristen Clarke hours before Gupta’s Senate hearing. The Lincoln Project’s new ad is expected to make its cable debut March 10 and its announcement comes one day after a New York Times investigation unearthed new details about the super PAC’s questionable financial arrangements.”

March 9, 2021: This article has been updated to include an ad released by the Lincoln Project.

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About The Author

Anna Massoglia

Anna is OpenSecrets' Editorial and Investigations Manager. She is also responsible for OpenSecrets' dark money research and researches foreign influence as a part of Foreign Lobby Watch. Anna holds degrees in political science and psychology from North Carolina State University and a J.D. from the University of the District of Columbia School of Law.