History Listory

1982

1982-01-01 Leonard Leo, a financial backer of Project 2025, helped found the Federalist Society to select and groom law students and promote conservative values. For more information please review the topics below.   

Federalist Society

https://www.axios.com/2020/01/07/leonard-leo-crc-advisors-federalist-society

https://www.propublica.org/article/we-dont-talk-about-leonard-leo-supreme-court-supermajority

https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/law/leonard-leo

Ethics

https://www.theguardian.com/law/2024/apr/12/billionaire-leonard-leo-rejects-senate-subpoena-supreme-court-gifts

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/10/ginni-thomas-leonard-leo-citizens-united-00108082

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/05/05/leonard-leo-clarence-thomas-ginni/

https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/releases/whitehouse-durbin-ask-leonard-leo-and-right-wing-billionaires-for-full-accounting-of-gifts-to-supreme-court-justices

https://www.propublica.org/article/samuel-alito-luxury-fishing-trip-paul-singer-scotus-supreme-court

Dark Money

https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/leonard-leo-tied-nonprofits-businesses-88-million/

https://maplightarchive.org/story/new-dark-money-group-led-by-trump-judicial-adviser-tied-to-network-promoting-his-court-picks/

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/12/how-leonard-leos-dark-money-network-orchestrated-a-new-attack-on-the-voting-rights-act/

Project 2025

https://www.desmog.com/2024/08/14/project-2025-billionaire-donor-heritage-foundation-donald-trump-jd-vance-charles-koch-peter-coors/

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/donations-surged-groups-linked-conservative-project-2025-rcna125638

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/leonard-leo-koch-networks-pour-millions-prep-potential-second-trump-ad-rcna144360

Civil Rights

https://dissentmagazine.org/article/laundering-racism-through-court-scandal-states-rights-federalism/

Voter Suppression

https://jacobin.com/2024/08/leonard-leo-voter-suppression-swing-states

1989

1989-06-12 Megachurch founder and televangelist Jerry Falwell stated, “Our goal has been achieved. The religious right is solidly in place and religious conservatives in America are now in for the duration”. Jerry Falwell’s “Moral Majority” campaigned to support Reagan’s election and re-election, calling him “God’s instrument”, calling the Democratic Party “radical”, and instrumentalizing religion for political power.

https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/ljs2007051801/#:~:text=Of%20course%2C%20leading%20the%20Reagan,Falwell’s%20earliest%20days%20in%20politics.

https://brewminate.com/from-pews-to-power-how-evangelicals-took-over-the-republican-party-in-the-20th-century/#:~:text=Jerry%20Falwell%20/%20Public%20Domain,Ronald%20Reagan%20to%20the%20presidency.

https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-the-moral-majority-definition-issues.html#:~:text=The%20Decline%20of%20the%20Moral,regained%20its%20former%20political%20relevance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_Majority#:~:text=Falwell%20offered%20an%20optimistic%20public,now%20in%20for%20the%20duration.%22

1998

1998-01-01 Trump supporter and mega-donor Peter Thiel wrote, “The purpose of the rape crisis movement seems as much about vilifying men as about raising ‘awareness’.” He also wrote in his book “The Diversity Myth: Multiculturalism and political Intolerance on Campus” that the definition of rape had been expanded to include “seductions that are later regretted”.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/21/peter-thiel-support-donald-trump-date-rape-book

https://www.independent.org/store/book/the-diversity-myth/#

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/oct/19/peter-thiel-support-donald-trump-mark-zuckerberg

2013

2013-01-01 JD Vance was a former venture capitalist with investors like Peter Thiel (Palantir, PayPal, Facebook), Eric Schmidt (Google), and Marc Andreessen (Silicon Valley Investor). 

https://www.axios.com/2024/07/16/jd-vance-venture-capital-career

https://www.npr.org/2024/07/17/g-s1-11654/five-things-to-know-about-jd-vances-connections-to-tech-billionaires

2015

2015-01-01 McMahon was a megadonor for the 2016 Republican nomination process, donating $5M to the Donald J. Trump Foundation. Between 2015 and 2016, McMahon donated $1.2M to Future-45, a SuperPac which funded anti-Bernie Sanders advertisements.

https://wrestlenomics.com/articles/2024/linda-mcmahon-contributed-more-than-10-million-to-help-elect-donald-trump-in-2024-a-breakdown-of-her-political-donations/

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2025/01/trump-administration-profile-linda-mcmahon/

https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/09/politics/linda-mcmahon-donald-trump-donations

2016

2016-01-01 In 2016, McMahon donated $6M to Rebuilding America Now, a SuperPac with the purpose of electing Trump.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/10/16/wwe-co-founder-linda-mcmahon-gave-6-million-to-pro-trump-super-pac/

https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2016/10/linda-mcmahon-gives-6-m-boost-to-pro-trump-super-pac-run-by-rick-scott-106526

https://www.wrestlezone.com/news/765213-linda-mcmahon-donated-6-million-to-donald-trumps-presidential-campaign-after-calling-comments-against-women-deplorable

https://www.courant.com/2016/10/17/mcmahon-gave-6m-to-pro-trump-super-pac-gop-challengers-trail-dems-in-congressional-races/

2021

2021-08-29 An article quoted JD Vance stating he attributed ‘pretty much’ his entire career to (Thiel’s) mentorship’. Thiel invested in JD Vance’s venture capital firm and backed Vance’s 2022 Senate campaign as the ‘largest amount given to a single candidate in congressional history’ according to an article of The New Yorker June 2, 2025 ‘Curtis Yarvin’s Plot Against America’.

https://www.businessinsider.com/jd-vance-venture-capital-opioid-nonprofit-tech-record-ohio-senate-2021-8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtRPLCso0Sw

2024

2024-04-16 (context) News outlets reported that the Bradley Foundation handed out a lot of money to far-right groups in 2022 such as Turning Point USA, America First Legal, Conservative Partnership Institute, and America’s Future. For context, America First Legal waged a lawsuit against Johns Hopkins accusing them of leveraging disparities on the U.S. census to help Black and Hispanic households.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/16/trump-rightwing-groups-funds

2024-12-18 Powerful CEOs and other megadonor billionaires met at Mar-a-Lago for a dinner party.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/19/us/politics/trump-elon-musk-bezos-mar-a-lago.html

https://www.npr.org/2024/12/17/1219887501/here-now-anytime-12-17-2024

https://www.npr.org/2024/12/13/nx-s1-5227874/trump-bezos-zuckerberg-amazon-facebook-open-ai-meta-inauguration-fund

2025 January

2025-01-17 (for context) United Airlines donated $1M to Trump’s inauguration.

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/united-airlines-donates-1-million-trump-inaugural-fund-2025-01-17/

https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/united-airlines-holdings/summary?id=D000021464

2025-01-17 (for context) JBS, the world’s largest meatpacker, made a $5m donation to Trump’s inauguration.

https://westernagnetwork.com/dollar5m-jbs-donation-raises-pay-to-play-questions-for-trump

https://mightyearth.org/article/brazilian-meat-giant-jbs-was-largest-donor-to-trumps-inauguration/

https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/06/meatpacking-giant-jbs-debuts-on-nyse-six-months-after-5m-trump-donation/

2025-01-17 Several businesses donated to Trump’s inaugural fund (pay to play”). 

https://www.goodsuniteus.com/

https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup

2025 March

2025-03-04 News articles reported multiple million-dollar dinners hosted at Mar-a-Lago, naming one as the “MAGA INC. Candlelight Finance Dinner”.

https://www.wired.com/story/people-paying-millions-donald-trump-mar-a-lago/

2025 July

2025-07-31 The White House announced they would be constructing a 90,000 square foot ballroom, which they said would be paid for through private donations. They also promised the construction would not interfere with or cut into the East Wing.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/07/the-white-house-announces-white-house-ballroom-construction-to-begin/

2025 August

2025-08-06 Mega-donor and Apple (-polisher) CEO Tim Cook presented a gold-based plaque to Trump while announcing a $100B investment into the US with a 4-year plan for $600B. A compilation of how mega-donors repeatedly and shamefully grovel can be found at this link:

https://www.nytimes.com/video/business/economy/100000010328133/trump-apple-investment.html

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0O9QhwIkj5w

2025 September

2025-09-05 The White House hosted a big-tech dinner party to carve up the country amongst themselves.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-hosting-dinner-tech-giants-business-leaders-white-house/

2025-09-05 Tesla introduced a new pay package for Elon Musk that would make him the first trillionaire in American history.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/05/business/elon-musk-tesla-new-pay-package

2025 October

2025-10-23 Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, founder of Binance. Later in October 2025 Trump told 60 Minutes he didn’t know who the guy was. For context, Zhao was convicted of money laundering. Also, for context, Binance helped facilitate a $2B purchase of World Liberty Financials’ stablecoin (founded by Trump’s sons).

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-binance-cryptocurrency-tycoon-he-pardoned-dont-know-who-he-is/

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/crypto/binance-pardon-trump-changpeng-zhao-crypto-rcna239371

https://x.com/cz_binance/status/1981404850832494666

2026 March

2026-03-27 Trump attended a Saudi investor meeting in Miami.

https://www.c-span.org/program/white-house-event/president-trump-speaks-at-saudi-investors-forum-in-miami/676455

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEuuPpq_AMQ