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

Watchdog group says entities backed by Leonard Leo have invested over $9m in dark web' of special interest groups

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."