A high-level employee at a liberal group dedicated to restoring “legitimacy to the federal judiciary” allegedly “misuse[d]” nearly $300,000 of its funds, according to the group’s 2022 tax filing.
Demand Justice “discovered misuse of organization funds by its former finance director” totaling $291,609, according to the tax form. The group fired its finance director in October 2022 and has since contracted an accounting firm to “seek recovery of the funds.”
It is not clear what “misuse” refers to on Demand Justice’s tax form. “The matter has been referred to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and Demand Justice is working to recover the funds,” a spokesperson for the group told Politico. (RELATED: ProPublica’s Top Donors Also Bankroll Activist Groups Targeting Justice Clarence Thomas)
Demand Justice did not name the employee who allegedly misused the funds. The Daily Caller News Foundation was unable to immediately identify them.
Demand Justice has criticized the Supreme Court’s ethical standards.
In April it touted a poll it commissioned showing that respondents support an ethics investigation into the Supreme Court following a ProPublica report on a real estate deal between Justice Clarence Thomas and a long-time friend.
“This shady land deal amounts to a payoff of a sitting Supreme Court justice, plain and simple. Senate Democrats need to announce a thorough investigation into the details of Clarence Thomas’ ties to Harlan Crow, including calling witnesses to get to the bottom of their financial relationship and Thomas’ apparent lawbreaking,” Demand Justice’s then-Executive Director Brian Fallon said.
(Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images)
“It is highly ironic that the two leading advocates for Supreme Court disclosures are incapable is setting their own houses in order,” Capital Research Center Investigative Researcher Parker Thayer told the DCNF.
“Both Fix the Court and Demand Justice have experienced major financial mismanagement scandals since they first set out to label conservative Justices as corrupt. More than anything, it’s proof that these groups are more concerned with the political implications of a conservative court than they are about transparency or disclosures.”
Demand Justice is bleeding money, according the organization’s tax forms.
The group spent $951,753 more than it raised in 2022, ending the year with $3.3 million in net assets, almost $1 million less than it had in 2021, according to the Demand Justice tax filing. Unlike Demand Justice, many liberal nonprofits had strong fundraising years in 2022 as they tapped into the anger surrounding the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.
More than 95% of Demand Justice’s revenue came from just three anonymous donors.
Demand Justice has its roots in the largest Democrat-aligned dark money network in the country. The group was started as a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a 501(c)(4) dark money group holding tens of millions in assets which functions as a key part of the nonprofit network managed by the for-profit firm Arabella Advisors, though it has since become independent.
The group announced a seven-figure ad buy to oppose the confirmation of Amy Coney Barret to the Supreme Court in 2019, Politico reported.
Demand Justice has also advocated for expanding the Supreme Court, creating term limits for justices and increasing “diversity” in federal courts.
Demand Justice did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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