Rightwing activist helps fund ‘predatory payday lenders’ in supreme court case

‘Leo spent years stacking the court with ideological kindred spirits,’ said Caroline Ciccone, president of Accountable.US. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP

The rightwing activist Leonard Leo has helped fund a network of groups involved in a crucial US supreme court case that could fundamentally weaken the federal government’s ability to hold corporations to account, a leading watchdog said as the conservative-dominated court prepared for its new term.

“Leonard Leo spent years stacking the court with ideological kindred spirits,” said Caroline Ciccone, president of Accountable.US. “Now he’s funding a dark web of special interest groups to push an extreme agenda.”