A mysterious donation of $1 million to President Donald Trump’s inaugural fund in 2016 has been traced to conservative legal activists who have been influential in his administration’s selection process for federal judges.
The donation is one of the largest made and was given by a Northern Virginia company called BH Group, LLC.
According to McClatchy, little is known about the company or who runs it, and it was likely used as a cipher to hide the real name of the donor.
However, McClatchy was able to trace BH group after it was hired by another secretive, politically active non-profit called Wellspring, which paid it $750,000 for PR work.
McClatchy also reported that Wellspring was practically the sole funder of the Judicial Crisis Network in 2016, paying nearly $23.5 million to the group which was a major financial supporter of efforts to stall former President Barack Obama’s supreme court pick.
The group is also known for advocating the nomination and confirmation of conservative judges.
A New York Times report showed that Neil Corkery, the Wellspring Committee’s president, and his wife Ann Corkery, a Washington lawyer, also work for the Judicial Crisis Network and are connected to Leonard Leo, an executive vice president at the conservative Federalist Society.
Meanwhile, in a recent finance filing reported to the Federal Election Commission, “BH Group” was also listed as Leo’s employer.
McClatchy wrote that Leo was Trump’s main counselor on major court decisions, including his nomination of Supreme Court Judge Neil Gorsuch.
Gorsuch has said that he first came to Trump’s attention after Leo contacted Gorsuch on December 2, 2016, a few weeks before the major donation from BH Group.
McClatchy’s report comes at a time when Trump is under scrutiny for his leftover inaugural funds.
Although the president promised to donate the leftover money to charity, he has not yet announced when or where he plans to donate the money to.
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