Senate Democrats' crusade against the Supreme Court's ethics is being bankrolled by the same billionaire who funds the left-wing groups attacking the justices, exposing a web of hypocrisy and conflicts of interest within their own ranks.
Senate Democrats leading the charge to criticize the Supreme Court's ethics have something significant in common with left-wing groups throwing mud at the Court: they share the same prominent donor. This wealthy businessman has been funding organizations behind the high court “ethics” campaign — including ProPublica.
Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Jon Ossoff (D-GA), among others, have targeted right-of-center nonprofit groups while accepting tens of thousands of dollars from a California philanthropist who generously funds influential left-wing foundations, as shown by Federal Election Commission filings.
This philanthropist, Stephen M. Silberstein, has directed regular checks from his private foundation to ProPublica for “investigative reporting” since 2011, according to tax forms. ProPublica’s reporting on alleged misconduct by Supreme Court justices sparked the Senate investigation and led to subpoenas for Leo and Crow. Silberstein, a retiree who co-founded the software company Innovative Interfaces, also supports left-wing groups advocating for judiciary ethics reforms and applauding Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats for approving the subpoenas, as found by a Washington Examiner investigation.
“Congressional oversight of the influence of money on public policy will always be imperfect because the overseers themselves are reliant on special interests, but Sheldon Whitehouse raises this to a whole new level,” said Peter Flaherty, CEO of the National Legal and Policy Center, an ethics watchdog group. “Whitehouse and Senate Democrats certainly appear to have conflicts of interest when investigating Leonard Leo or Harlan Crow.”
Richard Painter, ex-chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush and now a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, stated that subpoenas should not be “fishing expeditions in which members of Congress go after each other’s big donors or the nonprofit organizations they support.” Through his role as chairman of the Judiciary panel’s federal courts subcommittee, Whitehouse has been pivotal alongside Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) in probing conservative activists, including Leo. Whitehouse notably criticized Leo’s attorney, David Rivkin, after Rivkin co-authored a Wall Street Journal op-ed praising Alito, claiming Rivkin’s move highlighted the limited pool of Republican operatives.
“The same folks keep popping up wearing new hats,” Whitehouse remarked in July 2023, declining to comment to the Washington Examiner.
This election cycle, Whitehouse’s campaign has received maximum contributions of $6,600 from Silberstein, who also gave $5,000 to the senator’s leadership PAC in November 2023, according to campaign finance records. Silberstein’s last donation to Whitehouse before these was $1,000 in 2005.
Meanwhile, Silberstein has transferred $2 million since 2011 to ProPublica, which Whitehouse credits as he investigates conservative activists highlighted in ProPublica’s reports. ProPublica reported in June 2023 that Leo “helped organize” a fishing trip with Alito and Singer, major donors to Leo’s political groups. In September of the previous year, ProPublica reported Leo allegedly arranged appearances by Thomas at Koch network summits, prompting Whitehouse to post on social media: “Oh, my.”
A ProPublica spokesperson asserted that donors and board members are not informed of stories before publication nor have any say in the stories pursued, emphasizing the newsroom’s independence. Silberstein’s foundation also funds Public Citizen, an ally of Whitehouse advocating judiciary reforms. It has supported Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, pushing for investigations into Leo and other conservatives, and Common Cause, which backed the Durbin-led subpoenas to Leo and Crow in November last year.
A Common Cause spokesperson stated, “We leave it up to donors whether or not to announce which of our programs their funds support.” Another recipient of Silberstein’s donations is the Center for American Progress, receiving roughly $5 million since 2004. Devon Ombres, its senior courts and legal policy director, said in a November 2023 statement, “Holding people like Leonard Leo and billionaires like Harlan Crow accountable is necessary to restore faith in American institutions,” applauding the subpoenas.
Silberstein has also consistently donated to Democratic candidates and causes, such as the Nancy Pelosi Victory Fund, Senate Majority PAC, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Democratic National Committee.
Ossoff, a Senate Judiciary Committee member alongside Whitehouse, accepted $5,600 in 2020 from Silberstein. Additionally, over a dozen senators who prepared a 2022 report accusing the Leo-tied Judicial Crisis Network of spreading “propaganda” received about $56,800 combined from Silberstein over the years, excluding donations to Whitehouse.
Silberstein has given over $7,700 since 2006 to committees affiliated with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). She and other senators, including Whitehouse, signed a 2019 brief in a firearm-related Supreme Court case criticizing Leo’s financial ties to pro-Second Amendment groups.
Given Silberstein’s donations to these lawmakers, Scott Walter, president of the conservative Capital Research Center think tank, called this logic “rank hypocrisy.”
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