Judicial Crisis Network

The Judicial Crisis Network is the public-facing attack and defense arm of Leonard Leo's judicial empire, purpose-built to wage confirmation battles for conservative Supreme Court and federal court nominees. Led by Carrie Severino, a former clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas, JCN has spent over $40 million on each of the three Trump Supreme Court confirmations — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett — making it the single most influential outside group in modern judicial confirmation history. The organization receives the bulk of its funding from the Marble Freedom Trust and the Concord Fund (formerly the Judicial Education Project), both controlled by Leonard Leo, creating a closed loop of dark money that flows from anonymous donors through multiple Leo-controlled entities before being spent on television ads, digital campaigns, and grassroots mobilization. JCN's funding mechanism relies on 501(c)(4) status, which means it can engage in unlimited political advocacy without disclosing its donors. During the Kavanaugh confirmation, JCN spent $12 million on television advertising alone, running ads in the home states of key swing senators like Susan Collins and Joe Manchin. The organization also ran a $10 million campaign to block Merrick Garland's Supreme Court nomination in 2016, supporting Mitch McConnell's unprecedented refusal to hold hearings. JCN has expanded beyond confirmations into broader judicial policy, funding campaigns against court-packing proposals, supporting originalist legal theories, and backing state supreme court candidates. The network's effectiveness lies in its speed — JCN can launch multi-million dollar ad campaigns within hours of a nomination announcement, thanks to pre-positioned creative assets and media buys. Tax filings show JCN received a single anonymous $17 million donation in 2018, believed to have originated from the same network that produced the Marble Freedom Trust's $1.6 billion. The organization operates from a small staff but leverages a vast network of Federalist Society-connected lawyers, media consultants, and PR firms to amplify its message.