The conservative legal movement gained ground after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down restrictions on independent campaign spending by corporations in the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling.
Leonard Leo, the former executive vice president of the Federalist Society, directed a Republican polling company to pay the wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas “another $25K” for consulting work in 2012 and to bill a nonprofit organization for reimbursement, according to a document reviewed by the Washington Post.
Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, led a conservative group that received nearly $600,000 in donations through a “fiscal sponsorship” provided by a think tank.