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The Scheme: How the Right Wing Used Dark Money to Capture the Supreme Court
“A damning investigation of dark money by a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee” ( Kirkus Reviews ) with a new preface on recent disclosures about efforts to influence the Court
“There’s no senator I can think of who’s done more sleuthing to figure out the money trail in American politics, particularly as it affects the courts.”—Jane Mayer, author of the national bestseller Dark Money
As the story of Supreme Court malfeasance and ethics violations repeatedly makes front-page news, the paperback version of The Scheme comes at a time of crisis for the American judiciary.
Following his book Captured on corporate capture of regulatory and government agencies, and his years of experience as a prosecutor, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, whom Senator Elizabeth Warren calls a “a powerful voice in defending our American democracy against the relentless, pervasive—and often hidden—power of corporate special interests,” here turns his attention to the right-wing scheme to capture the United States Supreme Court. Whitehouse chronicles a hidden-money campaign using an armada of front groups, helped by the infamous Citizens United Supreme Court decision, employing the Federalist Society as an appointments turnstile, and with the same small handful of right-wing billionaires and corporations enticing the Senate to break rules, norms, and precedents to confirm wildly inappropriate nominees who would advance their anti-government agenda.
Now available in an affordable paperback edition with a new preface addressing the Reverend Schenck disclosures about politicking the justices and Justice Thomas’s recently disclosed conflicts of interest, The Scheme offers what Kirkus Reviews calls “a maddening indictment of a corrupt and corrupted judiciary.”
“There’s no senator I can think of who’s done more sleuthing to figure out the money trail in American politics, particularly as it affects the courts.”—Jane Mayer, author of the national bestseller Dark Money
As the story of Supreme Court malfeasance and ethics violations repeatedly makes front-page news, the paperback version of The Scheme comes at a time of crisis for the American judiciary.
Following his book Captured on corporate capture of regulatory and government agencies, and his years of experience as a prosecutor, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, whom Senator Elizabeth Warren calls a “a powerful voice in defending our American democracy against the relentless, pervasive—and often hidden—power of corporate special interests,” here turns his attention to the right-wing scheme to capture the United States Supreme Court. Whitehouse chronicles a hidden-money campaign using an armada of front groups, helped by the infamous Citizens United Supreme Court decision, employing the Federalist Society as an appointments turnstile, and with the same small handful of right-wing billionaires and corporations enticing the Senate to break rules, norms, and precedents to confirm wildly inappropriate nominees who would advance their anti-government agenda.
Now available in an affordable paperback edition with a new preface addressing the Reverend Schenck disclosures about politicking the justices and Justice Thomas’s recently disclosed conflicts of interest, The Scheme offers what Kirkus Reviews calls “a maddening indictment of a corrupt and corrupted judiciary.”
256 pages, Hardcover
Published October 18, 2022
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September 4, 2023
Senator Whitehouse explains in detail how corporations and wealthy individuals captured the Supreme Court. It took decades and began with fossil fuel industries trying to stop regulations addressing climate change. Big money used to influence legislation was expanded to target judicial selection in a coordinated effort Whitehouse calls “The Scheme.” The Kochs and corporate titans set up networks to raise money from their billionaire friends. These funds and similarly targeted corporate money went into the billions. It is legally laundered through front organizations so that the donor’s identity is hidden. Hundreds of front organizations with innocent sounding names are funded by the mega donors who pull the strings. At a time when Justices Alito and Thomas are making news for the fancy vacations and gifts they accept from billionaires, and Chief Justice Roberts refuses to adopt a code of ethics, this book is highly relevant. For those who have read Jane Mayer’s Dark Money Whitehouse’s book is a worthy follow-up. My notes follow.
Corporations were dismayed by the decisions of the Supreme Court in the sixties and seventies regulating worker safety, union rights, and pollution that hit their bottom line. Corporations began running PR campaigns claiming the free enterprise system was under attack. They heavily funded the Chamber of Commerce to also carry that message. The Chamber along with the National Association of Realtors spend by far the most on lobbyists. Spending on the 12,000 registered lobbyists exceeded $4 billion in 2022. The Heritage Foundation and Koch founded Cato Institute became leading “think tanks.” Heritage proudly claims that two-thirds of its policy recommendations were adopted by Trump. Megadonors also fund hundreds of similar smaller organizations. Front groups adapt as needed. Those that had stood up for big tobacco switched to climate denial. Koch sponsored Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks coordinated and nurtured the Tea Party which posed as a grass roots group. Whitehouse identifies many of the front groups and how they are used.
Corporations set out to change Supreme Court rulings that required transparency and limited the use of corporate money in politics. Whitehouse outlines a series of cases heard by the Court. Decisions in these cases loosened restrictions on corporate money to influence elections culminating in Citizens United in 2010 opening the floodgates. Super PACS can spend unlimited amounts of money if they operate “independent” of a campaign. But it’s a charade. They find many ways to coordinate. Big money friendly judges hide behind the myth that these contributions are “independent.” Unlimited amounts are funneled through dark money front groups without identifying the original donors. Only the names of the front groups are shown. The real donors are never disclosed. Front groups are set up as 501(c)s. 501(c)3s such as The Federalist Society are non-profit organizations. They can’t spend on elections, but they can donate to 501(c)4s such as the Judicial Crisis Network and Americans for Prosperity or 501(c)6s such as The Chamber of Commerce which can spend half their money on political campaigns. They in turn can donate to other half to other 501(c)4s and 6s to effectively spend all the original donor’s money for political purposes without the original donor ever being identified. Thus, even foreign governments can be contributing to them. Trump put in a rule that 501(c)s don’t even have to identify donors to the IRS! It’s a shell game with the dark money organizations working in tandem. In some cases the same staff in the same office run multiple dark money organizations so transferring money from one to another is just a matter of a few keystrokes. The megadonors also get a nice tax deduction for their original 501(c)3 contribution.
Special interest dark money was used to hire prestigious law firms to challenge regulatory agencies. Paid “experts” were trained and groomed in right wing “think tanks” to testify. Agency employees understood that if they played ball, a lucrative corporate job could be waiting for them. After mastering the regulatory agencies, capturing the courts was next. Leading the way was the Federalist Society. Trump proudly announced that all his Supreme Court picks would come from a list provided him by the Federalist Society which he called the gold standard. 80% of his other judicial nominations had been or were members of the Federalist Society. The Federalist Society works alongside right-wing front organizations that fund campaigns to get their nominees confirmed. The Judicial Crisis Network 501(c) and its ilk raised hundreds of millions from megadonors to organize campaigns to block Merrick Garland’s nomination and to support Trump’s Supreme Court picks. When one considers the billions a corporation could lose with adverse rulings, donating hundreds of millions of dollars to secure the nomination for a friendly judge is money well spent.
Front organizations also produce doctrines to justify their positions. Years ago, states’ rights was used to deny blacks their civil rights. The clever one today is originalism touted by Justice Gorsuch and his conservative cohorts on the Court. Originalism can be applied however one wants. The founders made the constitution vague to get it approved by people with disparate interests. Each had his own interpretation and even that changed over time. The Koch Foundation, Federalist Society, Heritage and Cato all craft doctrines that comply with special interest wishes and promulgate them to their constituencies. The Federalist Society in essence “auditions” the judicial candidates it recommends by seeing how they adhered to its doctrines and goals. Interested judges understand this. For example, Justice Kavanaugh, a year before Citizens United ruled front groups were “constitutionally entitled to raise and spend unlimited money in support of candidates for elected office.” His relationship with Federalist Society leader Leonard Leo also certainly helped. No surprise he was on the list the Federalist society gave to Trump. Whitehouse notes that The Federalist Society is not looking for independent judges but “policy agents.” And it puts them on the Court.
Instead of relying on the American Bar Association’s evaluation of the qualifications of judicial nominees as his predecessor had, Trump relied on The Federalist Society putting on courts even candidates the ABA rated unqualified. The McConnell led Senate responded to megadonor demands to block Merrick Garland’s nomination. McConnell made appointing his Federalist approved court nominees his top priority. With Court control, front groups client shopped to engineer and fund cases to bring to the Court to get decisions they wanted. The Federalist justices in turn could signal the kind of cases they were looking for. Cases were custom designed to get to the interested judges. Whitehouse details several of these.
Judges placed by front groups fail to recuse themselves from cases involving front group money, even though the judges take sizeable gifts and benefits from people intimately connected to those groups. Front groups regularly file amicus briefs supporting one side in cases before the Court and take huge donations from that side without disclosing it. These special interest groups don’t disclose who is paying them and often judges don’t disclose significant gifts they get from interested parties. All involved understand the game and how it works. As we have seen recently, Justices Thomas and Alito have not reported such gifts on their financial disclosure filings. The Robert’s Court refuses to set ethical standards for the Court and claims no other body can. Corporate and ideologically focused dark money is used to cultivate judicial candidates, get Senators to appoint them, and directly influence cases when they are heard. Whitehouse lays out how dark money has captured the Court.
Whitehouse identifies four types of cases that are funded by dark money groups to take advantage of their captured Court:
1. Cases to control the political process are used to facilitate extreme gerrymandering, restrict voting rights, undercut the Voting Rights Act, and ensure the continued flow of dark money. The Court has gone beyond Citizens United in Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta deciding donor money could even be hidden from states investigating tax fraud. Trump had already issued an executive order prohibiting the IRS from seeing donor money.
2. Cases to protect corporate Interests particularly fossil fuel industries are used to undermine the Clean Air Act (Michigan v. EPA), restrict the ability of environmental groups to sue, limit the ability of states to control developers, and limit anti-trust actions. Standing out are decisions backing arbitration over jury trials. Almost every work and consumer agreement an individual signs with a corporation requires arbitration with the arbitrator selected by and paid for by the corporation and the results kept secret. Thus, Wells Fargo went for years opening new accounts and credit cards without people’s knowledge. Complaints were sent to arbitration to die.
3. Cases to restrict civil rights were used to undermine and eventually overturn Roe v. Wade, limit women’s rights to sue for gender discrimination, for sexual assault, and workplace retaliation; favor the right to carry a gun over the right to be safe from gun violence, and facilitate state voter suppression laws targeting minorities by striking down critical provisions of The Voting Rights Act.
4. Cases to favor a far-right social agenda were used allow religious groups to compete for federal grants, allow states to give tax credits for funding religious education, limit the ability to restrict gun ownership, limit a woman’s right to choose, and deny voting rights.
The Court’s conservative justices often tout the importance of honoring judicial principles. One is precedent, aka stare decisis. But as Justice Alito said speaking at the Federalist Society “As I’m sure all of the lawyers in the room know, it is a Latin phrase. It means to leave things decided when it suits our purposes.” Clearly Roe v. Wade didn’t suit their purposes. A second principle Federalist judges claim to abide by is judicial restraint. They have long denounced the Warren Court’s “activism.” One aspect of juridical restraint is to address the question at hand, not to broaden it, but the justices do so often. As Justice Stevens noted in his partial dissent in Citizens United “Five justices were unhappy with the limited nature of the case before us, so they changed the case to give themselves an opportunity to change the law.” The case was changed at a stage that gave opponents no chance to establish a factual record to prepare a response. A third principle is that facts are developed by lower courts not appellate courts. But the right wing justices create their own facts without establishing them in a record. In Citizens United the Roberts Court held that “independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption, or the appearance of corruption.” Whitehouse notes “They just made that up.” It’s not based on any record establishing it as a fact. John McCain and Whitehouse wrote the Court “Whether independent expenditures pose dangers of corruption depends on actual workings of the electoral system; It is a factual question, not a legal syllogism.” In a prior case, McConell v. FEC challenging the same law, the district court had established a 100,000 page factual record showing dark money did threaten corruption.
The Court’s right wing justices tout originalism and textualism which like their other values are honored when it serves their purposes. A corporation is not a person. Its right to free speech is not in the constitution. But that didn’t stop the Roberts Court from treating it as such and using that to justify a corporation’s right to spend unlimited money for political purposes. Similarly, there is no basis for reading the Second Amendment as giving individuals a right to bear arms. The NRA spent tens of millions of dollars to get aligned historians and legal pundits to craft a narrative supporting this and to fund the Federalist Society to get justices approved who agreed. The NRA took in dark money and distributed it to aligned candidates to spout the same argument. The right to a jury trial is in the constitution, but the indiscriminate use of arbitration by powerful corporations to block that right isn’t.
The Roberts Court has embraced the shadow docket. This allows cases to be decided without a full briefing or oral argument. The decision can be unsigned and may be only a single sentence. The votes of justices may not be shown. Traditionally used only for emergency procedural orders, now it is used for significant decisions. The shadow docket was used eight times from 2001 to 2017, only once provoking dissent. During the four-year Trump presidency, the Court used the shadow docket to issue 36 orders in 41 cases of which 27 triggered dissents. The public is denied transparency and accountability. The Roberts Court has used the shadow docket on issues ranging from funding the border wall, Covid restrictions, voting rights, rights of asylum seekers, and federal execution. The Court has informed lower courts that some of these decisions set a new precedent. Normal judicial processes are abrogated in what amounts to justice by fiat. In 2021 the Court used the shadow docket to let stand the Texas six week abortion ban overriding precedent issuing an unsigned one paragraph decision. It has continued to use the shadow docket to block Biden administration immigration policy and to end the Biden federal eviction moratorium.
Whitehouse notes that no reform of the Court will be meaningful without stopping the undisclosed flow of dark money that is used to capture the Court. Megadonors hide behind front groups posing as non-partisan fair minded organizations but these dark money groups are paid handsomely to implement the special interest agenda. These front groups select and groom judicial candidates to act as special interest policy agents. The special interest megadonors then fund PACS and front groups to get Senators to appoint the selected candidates. These justices then operate without ethical standards and increasingly without explanation. They ignore the law or even create their own to ensure special interest policies become the law. Transparency and limits on political contributions are essential to stop the corruption of the nation’s highest court.
Corporations were dismayed by the decisions of the Supreme Court in the sixties and seventies regulating worker safety, union rights, and pollution that hit their bottom line. Corporations began running PR campaigns claiming the free enterprise system was under attack. They heavily funded the Chamber of Commerce to also carry that message. The Chamber along with the National Association of Realtors spend by far the most on lobbyists. Spending on the 12,000 registered lobbyists exceeded $4 billion in 2022. The Heritage Foundation and Koch founded Cato Institute became leading “think tanks.” Heritage proudly claims that two-thirds of its policy recommendations were adopted by Trump. Megadonors also fund hundreds of similar smaller organizations. Front groups adapt as needed. Those that had stood up for big tobacco switched to climate denial. Koch sponsored Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks coordinated and nurtured the Tea Party which posed as a grass roots group. Whitehouse identifies many of the front groups and how they are used.
Corporations set out to change Supreme Court rulings that required transparency and limited the use of corporate money in politics. Whitehouse outlines a series of cases heard by the Court. Decisions in these cases loosened restrictions on corporate money to influence elections culminating in Citizens United in 2010 opening the floodgates. Super PACS can spend unlimited amounts of money if they operate “independent” of a campaign. But it’s a charade. They find many ways to coordinate. Big money friendly judges hide behind the myth that these contributions are “independent.” Unlimited amounts are funneled through dark money front groups without identifying the original donors. Only the names of the front groups are shown. The real donors are never disclosed. Front groups are set up as 501(c)s. 501(c)3s such as The Federalist Society are non-profit organizations. They can’t spend on elections, but they can donate to 501(c)4s such as the Judicial Crisis Network and Americans for Prosperity or 501(c)6s such as The Chamber of Commerce which can spend half their money on political campaigns. They in turn can donate to other half to other 501(c)4s and 6s to effectively spend all the original donor’s money for political purposes without the original donor ever being identified. Thus, even foreign governments can be contributing to them. Trump put in a rule that 501(c)s don’t even have to identify donors to the IRS! It’s a shell game with the dark money organizations working in tandem. In some cases the same staff in the same office run multiple dark money organizations so transferring money from one to another is just a matter of a few keystrokes. The megadonors also get a nice tax deduction for their original 501(c)3 contribution.
Special interest dark money was used to hire prestigious law firms to challenge regulatory agencies. Paid “experts” were trained and groomed in right wing “think tanks” to testify. Agency employees understood that if they played ball, a lucrative corporate job could be waiting for them. After mastering the regulatory agencies, capturing the courts was next. Leading the way was the Federalist Society. Trump proudly announced that all his Supreme Court picks would come from a list provided him by the Federalist Society which he called the gold standard. 80% of his other judicial nominations had been or were members of the Federalist Society. The Federalist Society works alongside right-wing front organizations that fund campaigns to get their nominees confirmed. The Judicial Crisis Network 501(c) and its ilk raised hundreds of millions from megadonors to organize campaigns to block Merrick Garland’s nomination and to support Trump’s Supreme Court picks. When one considers the billions a corporation could lose with adverse rulings, donating hundreds of millions of dollars to secure the nomination for a friendly judge is money well spent.
Front organizations also produce doctrines to justify their positions. Years ago, states’ rights was used to deny blacks their civil rights. The clever one today is originalism touted by Justice Gorsuch and his conservative cohorts on the Court. Originalism can be applied however one wants. The founders made the constitution vague to get it approved by people with disparate interests. Each had his own interpretation and even that changed over time. The Koch Foundation, Federalist Society, Heritage and Cato all craft doctrines that comply with special interest wishes and promulgate them to their constituencies. The Federalist Society in essence “auditions” the judicial candidates it recommends by seeing how they adhered to its doctrines and goals. Interested judges understand this. For example, Justice Kavanaugh, a year before Citizens United ruled front groups were “constitutionally entitled to raise and spend unlimited money in support of candidates for elected office.” His relationship with Federalist Society leader Leonard Leo also certainly helped. No surprise he was on the list the Federalist society gave to Trump. Whitehouse notes that The Federalist Society is not looking for independent judges but “policy agents.” And it puts them on the Court.
Instead of relying on the American Bar Association’s evaluation of the qualifications of judicial nominees as his predecessor had, Trump relied on The Federalist Society putting on courts even candidates the ABA rated unqualified. The McConnell led Senate responded to megadonor demands to block Merrick Garland’s nomination. McConnell made appointing his Federalist approved court nominees his top priority. With Court control, front groups client shopped to engineer and fund cases to bring to the Court to get decisions they wanted. The Federalist justices in turn could signal the kind of cases they were looking for. Cases were custom designed to get to the interested judges. Whitehouse details several of these.
Judges placed by front groups fail to recuse themselves from cases involving front group money, even though the judges take sizeable gifts and benefits from people intimately connected to those groups. Front groups regularly file amicus briefs supporting one side in cases before the Court and take huge donations from that side without disclosing it. These special interest groups don’t disclose who is paying them and often judges don’t disclose significant gifts they get from interested parties. All involved understand the game and how it works. As we have seen recently, Justices Thomas and Alito have not reported such gifts on their financial disclosure filings. The Robert’s Court refuses to set ethical standards for the Court and claims no other body can. Corporate and ideologically focused dark money is used to cultivate judicial candidates, get Senators to appoint them, and directly influence cases when they are heard. Whitehouse lays out how dark money has captured the Court.
Whitehouse identifies four types of cases that are funded by dark money groups to take advantage of their captured Court:
1. Cases to control the political process are used to facilitate extreme gerrymandering, restrict voting rights, undercut the Voting Rights Act, and ensure the continued flow of dark money. The Court has gone beyond Citizens United in Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta deciding donor money could even be hidden from states investigating tax fraud. Trump had already issued an executive order prohibiting the IRS from seeing donor money.
2. Cases to protect corporate Interests particularly fossil fuel industries are used to undermine the Clean Air Act (Michigan v. EPA), restrict the ability of environmental groups to sue, limit the ability of states to control developers, and limit anti-trust actions. Standing out are decisions backing arbitration over jury trials. Almost every work and consumer agreement an individual signs with a corporation requires arbitration with the arbitrator selected by and paid for by the corporation and the results kept secret. Thus, Wells Fargo went for years opening new accounts and credit cards without people’s knowledge. Complaints were sent to arbitration to die.
3. Cases to restrict civil rights were used to undermine and eventually overturn Roe v. Wade, limit women’s rights to sue for gender discrimination, for sexual assault, and workplace retaliation; favor the right to carry a gun over the right to be safe from gun violence, and facilitate state voter suppression laws targeting minorities by striking down critical provisions of The Voting Rights Act.
4. Cases to favor a far-right social agenda were used allow religious groups to compete for federal grants, allow states to give tax credits for funding religious education, limit the ability to restrict gun ownership, limit a woman’s right to choose, and deny voting rights.
The Court’s conservative justices often tout the importance of honoring judicial principles. One is precedent, aka stare decisis. But as Justice Alito said speaking at the Federalist Society “As I’m sure all of the lawyers in the room know, it is a Latin phrase. It means to leave things decided when it suits our purposes.” Clearly Roe v. Wade didn’t suit their purposes. A second principle Federalist judges claim to abide by is judicial restraint. They have long denounced the Warren Court’s “activism.” One aspect of juridical restraint is to address the question at hand, not to broaden it, but the justices do so often. As Justice Stevens noted in his partial dissent in Citizens United “Five justices were unhappy with the limited nature of the case before us, so they changed the case to give themselves an opportunity to change the law.” The case was changed at a stage that gave opponents no chance to establish a factual record to prepare a response. A third principle is that facts are developed by lower courts not appellate courts. But the right wing justices create their own facts without establishing them in a record. In Citizens United the Roberts Court held that “independent expenditures, including those made by corporations, do not give rise to corruption, or the appearance of corruption.” Whitehouse notes “They just made that up.” It’s not based on any record establishing it as a fact. John McCain and Whitehouse wrote the Court “Whether independent expenditures pose dangers of corruption depends on actual workings of the electoral system; It is a factual question, not a legal syllogism.” In a prior case, McConell v. FEC challenging the same law, the district court had established a 100,000 page factual record showing dark money did threaten corruption.
The Court’s right wing justices tout originalism and textualism which like their other values are honored when it serves their purposes. A corporation is not a person. Its right to free speech is not in the constitution. But that didn’t stop the Roberts Court from treating it as such and using that to justify a corporation’s right to spend unlimited money for political purposes. Similarly, there is no basis for reading the Second Amendment as giving individuals a right to bear arms. The NRA spent tens of millions of dollars to get aligned historians and legal pundits to craft a narrative supporting this and to fund the Federalist Society to get justices approved who agreed. The NRA took in dark money and distributed it to aligned candidates to spout the same argument. The right to a jury trial is in the constitution, but the indiscriminate use of arbitration by powerful corporations to block that right isn’t.
The Roberts Court has embraced the shadow docket. This allows cases to be decided without a full briefing or oral argument. The decision can be unsigned and may be only a single sentence. The votes of justices may not be shown. Traditionally used only for emergency procedural orders, now it is used for significant decisions. The shadow docket was used eight times from 2001 to 2017, only once provoking dissent. During the four-year Trump presidency, the Court used the shadow docket to issue 36 orders in 41 cases of which 27 triggered dissents. The public is denied transparency and accountability. The Roberts Court has used the shadow docket on issues ranging from funding the border wall, Covid restrictions, voting rights, rights of asylum seekers, and federal execution. The Court has informed lower courts that some of these decisions set a new precedent. Normal judicial processes are abrogated in what amounts to justice by fiat. In 2021 the Court used the shadow docket to let stand the Texas six week abortion ban overriding precedent issuing an unsigned one paragraph decision. It has continued to use the shadow docket to block Biden administration immigration policy and to end the Biden federal eviction moratorium.
Whitehouse notes that no reform of the Court will be meaningful without stopping the undisclosed flow of dark money that is used to capture the Court. Megadonors hide behind front groups posing as non-partisan fair minded organizations but these dark money groups are paid handsomely to implement the special interest agenda. These front groups select and groom judicial candidates to act as special interest policy agents. The special interest megadonors then fund PACS and front groups to get Senators to appoint the selected candidates. These justices then operate without ethical standards and increasingly without explanation. They ignore the law or even create their own to ensure special interest policies become the law. Transparency and limits on political contributions are essential to stop the corruption of the nation’s highest court.
January 1, 2024
I disagree with Whitehouse on many things, but I share his concerns about dark money and the current state of campaign finance laws. I was skeptical, seeing as Whitehouse is a liberal Senator from Rhode Island and his targets in this book included various organizations I’m familiar with and have even been a part of. I anticipated partisan talking points and little else. While there were moments of partisanship, I was wrong.
It is clear that Whitehouse and his staff who helped work on this book did an extraordinary amount of research. Not only is there extensive discussion about what’s going on in the present day, but there is also a great deal of legal and Supreme Court history in the book. Again, the research effort shows through. What the research shows should make anyone of any political party take pause. The notion that anyone or any organization or corporation can essentially write an anonymous check for an exorbitant amount of money in efforts (sometimes successful ones) to achieve their desired political or policy outcomes should alarm us.
I commend Senator Whitehouse for his efforts with this book. If nothing else, I came away from it agreeing wholeheartedly with him that more disclosure, at a minimum, must be pursued in our campaign finance laws. The American people deserve to know who exactly is funding candidates and causes, and who is behind the multitude of PACs and other organizations that seemingly have sprung up overnight across the political landscape.
It is clear that Whitehouse and his staff who helped work on this book did an extraordinary amount of research. Not only is there extensive discussion about what’s going on in the present day, but there is also a great deal of legal and Supreme Court history in the book. Again, the research effort shows through. What the research shows should make anyone of any political party take pause. The notion that anyone or any organization or corporation can essentially write an anonymous check for an exorbitant amount of money in efforts (sometimes successful ones) to achieve their desired political or policy outcomes should alarm us.
I commend Senator Whitehouse for his efforts with this book. If nothing else, I came away from it agreeing wholeheartedly with him that more disclosure, at a minimum, must be pursued in our campaign finance laws. The American people deserve to know who exactly is funding candidates and causes, and who is behind the multitude of PACs and other organizations that seemingly have sprung up overnight across the political landscape.
March 11, 2023
I was on the library waitlist for 16 weeks for this book. Just starting it…worth the wait to learn more about what’s really happened with SCOTUS. The Citizens United decision paved the way for an “American oligarchy”. More people need to understand this…
February 8, 2023
An absolute must read for any American who cares about our country and our culture. This is an argument by a great lawyer, with each proposition being proven by resounding, often irrefutable, evidence.
Our Supreme Court, which Senator Whitehouse calls the "captured court" should be ashamed. I agree with every proposition he has stated and am ashamed of my lack of action over an over forty year career as a lawyer. I got too busy paying the bills and worrying about the cases I had rather than my participation in a system which has gotten broken, during my time.
This book reveals how we are losing the promise and meaning of the country made by the constitution, it precedent revolution, and the blood, sweat and tears of real Americans who toiled to make a great country.
It may take constitutional amendments to make this start in the right direction. It will take decades of hard work to turn anything. I hope America is up for it!
Our Supreme Court, which Senator Whitehouse calls the "captured court" should be ashamed. I agree with every proposition he has stated and am ashamed of my lack of action over an over forty year career as a lawyer. I got too busy paying the bills and worrying about the cases I had rather than my participation in a system which has gotten broken, during my time.
This book reveals how we are losing the promise and meaning of the country made by the constitution, it precedent revolution, and the blood, sweat and tears of real Americans who toiled to make a great country.
It may take constitutional amendments to make this start in the right direction. It will take decades of hard work to turn anything. I hope America is up for it!
October 7, 2022
The Scheme by Sheldon Whitehouse is a concise, easy to digest explanation of how dark money and lack of campaign finance reform has allowed our Supreme Court to be taken over by the influence of large corporations. Sheldon Whitehouse is a long time senator who gained notoriety for his daily climate change presentations to the Senate.
While the subject matter of this book is incredibly heavy and infuriating, Whitehouse does an excellent job keeping the narrative moving versus getting stuck in the mire. That said, this book left me feeling angry and with a sense of existential dread. There’s simply no escaping that this is a huge issue for the United States going forward.
This is clearly a partisan and political issue, but he also does an excellent job explaining the shift in the Republican party as well as placing necessary blame on the Democratic Party for not being more vocal when this dark money power shift began to occur. Sheldon Whitehouse and the book with a call for bipartisanship and suggestions for how we can move forward. If you care about this issue, I would encourage you to contact your representatives in Congress and ask for a code of ethics to be applied to the Supreme Court as it is to other justices. This would be a significant step towards accountability for SCOTUS.
Overall, I think this is a highly important read. It is not light but it is an issue that anyone who cares about justice and democracy should be abreast of. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ALC in exchange for my honest review.
While the subject matter of this book is incredibly heavy and infuriating, Whitehouse does an excellent job keeping the narrative moving versus getting stuck in the mire. That said, this book left me feeling angry and with a sense of existential dread. There’s simply no escaping that this is a huge issue for the United States going forward.
This is clearly a partisan and political issue, but he also does an excellent job explaining the shift in the Republican party as well as placing necessary blame on the Democratic Party for not being more vocal when this dark money power shift began to occur. Sheldon Whitehouse and the book with a call for bipartisanship and suggestions for how we can move forward. If you care about this issue, I would encourage you to contact your representatives in Congress and ask for a code of ethics to be applied to the Supreme Court as it is to other justices. This would be a significant step towards accountability for SCOTUS.
Overall, I think this is a highly important read. It is not light but it is an issue that anyone who cares about justice and democracy should be abreast of. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ALC in exchange for my honest review.
October 14, 2023
Our government needs a major house cleaning - including the Supreme Court who, according to this book, consistently violates rules and precedence of previous courts.
I only wish I had read this in e-book form so that I could highlight the important parts.
I only wish I had read this in e-book form so that I could highlight the important parts.
October 14, 2022
Thanks to NetGalley and Kalorama Audio for the audiobook ARC!
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, from my neighbor state of Rhode Island, shows himself to be a very astute political observer. He points out many instances in his book of things not being what they seem on the surace, and things not adding up. Senator Whitehouse describes the Conservative takeover of the Supreme Court as a fully developed 'Scheme', which may or may not be the whole story, but the points he makes about the way the balance of power has shifted are very interesting and thought-provoking. I tend to disbelieve any over-arching 'mastermind' type theory, but there are certainly major issues with the way the Court has changed over the last 10 years, and what implications it has on our futures. Senator Whitehouse does a good job of pointing out many of these issues.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, from my neighbor state of Rhode Island, shows himself to be a very astute political observer. He points out many instances in his book of things not being what they seem on the surace, and things not adding up. Senator Whitehouse describes the Conservative takeover of the Supreme Court as a fully developed 'Scheme', which may or may not be the whole story, but the points he makes about the way the balance of power has shifted are very interesting and thought-provoking. I tend to disbelieve any over-arching 'mastermind' type theory, but there are certainly major issues with the way the Court has changed over the last 10 years, and what implications it has on our futures. Senator Whitehouse does a good job of pointing out many of these issues.
November 6, 2022
3.5 From the RI US Senator famous for his foam-cores on easels during hearings, comes a garrulous and well-hypothesized argument about the dangers and nefarious funding lurking behind super PACS, lobbyists and 501(c)(4) organizations who don’t have to reveal their progenitors nor their motives.
Whitehouse argues that these anonymous organizations threaten our democracy with undisclosed billions, overriding the people’s best intentions regarding climate, social issues like abortion, and the economy, as they work to benefit wealthy corporations’ aims. He says these schemers have been patient, building a process based on sustained propaganda aimed on dominating our judiciary system -specifically the SCOTUS judges, who are not subject to political winds of change due to their lifetime appointments.
Whitehouse reminds us repeatedly that in his role as senator on the judiciary committee, he’s worked to stop it over and over and over again. Like IRL, in print Sheldon is vociferously vociferous and above all, he seems to want readers to know that don’t say he didn’t warn you!!
As a read, I feel the first half rolled better as a narrative, while the second half got bogged down in case after case citations. But if that’s your bag, you’ll appreciate the dogged citations.
Whitehouse argues that these anonymous organizations threaten our democracy with undisclosed billions, overriding the people’s best intentions regarding climate, social issues like abortion, and the economy, as they work to benefit wealthy corporations’ aims. He says these schemers have been patient, building a process based on sustained propaganda aimed on dominating our judiciary system -specifically the SCOTUS judges, who are not subject to political winds of change due to their lifetime appointments.
Whitehouse reminds us repeatedly that in his role as senator on the judiciary committee, he’s worked to stop it over and over and over again. Like IRL, in print Sheldon is vociferously vociferous and above all, he seems to want readers to know that don’t say he didn’t warn you!!
As a read, I feel the first half rolled better as a narrative, while the second half got bogged down in case after case citations. But if that’s your bag, you’ll appreciate the dogged citations.
August 22, 2023
The Supreme Court has been captured by shadowy right-wing mega-donors. It doesn’t sound like it could be true, but it is. In The Scheme: How the Right Wing Used Dark Money to Capture the Supreme Court, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Jennifer Mueller put the Court itself on trial and make an airtight case that the integrity of the Court has been sold. For hundreds of billions of dollars.
The Scheme is broken into nine parts, mirroring the phases of a court investigation. Whitehouse exposes the players, the motive, the means, the co-conspirators, the method, the victim, and the results, ending with a rebuttal and a closing argument.
Read more: https://sheseeksnonfiction.blog/2023/...
The Scheme is broken into nine parts, mirroring the phases of a court investigation. Whitehouse exposes the players, the motive, the means, the co-conspirators, the method, the victim, and the results, ending with a rebuttal and a closing argument.
Read more: https://sheseeksnonfiction.blog/2023/...
October 20, 2022
A harrowing account of how right-wing billionaires and business interests have worked to capture the American judiciary—all the way up to the Supreme Court—to create an American plutocracy.
March 24, 2023
Why are Americans not up in arms? (Figuratively of course.) This is an important book that should be on every patriotic American's bookshelf. I don't think it matters what side of the aisle you sit, unless you are an American oligarch or benefit from the patronage of said oligarchs you have lost the possibility of a free and democratic republic of America. The question I am left with is; Senator Whitehouse, what can the average American do about this?
April 21, 2023
This falls into the category of “read ‘em and weep”. REALLY good, but REALLY frightening.
November 20, 2023
I was unsure about this book because it is written by a sitting Senator. I find that any book written by any current politician often feels like more of a stump speech than something substantive. However, because this book was blurbed by Jane Mayer (author of Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right), I took a chance. I'm glad I did! Whitehouse offers an updated version of Dark Money focused specifically on the Supreme Court and couched in his years of advocacy and research into dark money. Though a Democrat, he is also critical of how Democrats have failed to stand in the way of many of these schemes even when they've had ample opportunity. The way that the book is laid out feels a little report-like--maybe this works better in print, but I listened to the audiobook. It felt like a good primer for those who don't want to read either Dark Money or Evil Geniuses: The Unmaking of America. However, I would still suggest reading The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic for more on that part of it because the use of dark money plus the shadow docket is a yikes, and you won't really understand the shadow docket fully in this book I feel. People who liked this may also be interested in The Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America.
October 31, 2023
Sheldon Whitehouse is a current senator from Rhode Island and is chair of the Judiciary Committee's Sub-committee on the federal courts. He was Rhode Island state attorney, and the state Attorney General. Jennifer Mueller, attorney and academic, is the co-author. The sub-title is How the Right Wing Used Dark Money to Capture the Supreme Court. The current Roberts court with 3 liberal and 6 conservative justices is is highly skewed to the right and highly favorable to the interests of corporations and the wealthy --- largely due to the Citizen's United decision that allowed corporations and other special interest groups to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence political and judicial matters. "Dark money" is spending to influence elections, public policy, and political discourse, where the source of the money is not disclosed to the public. Vast amounts are spent in lobbying. This has been a HUGE factor as well in legal cases. The current scandals on the Supreme Court where huge gifts have been accepted but not reported have made it clear how wealth buys influence. The conservative Federalist Society has chapters at more than 200 law school campuses. They promote the philosophy of "individual freedom" and limited government and deregulation. Along with conservative think tanks, they teach conservative political, economic, and legal ideology. The Federalist Society is financed with Big Money, and is very influential in recommending candidates for the federal courts. Six members of the current Supreme Court have been members: Roberts, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Thomas, and Barrett.
The book is very well written, with documented sources and court cases backing up the eye-opening information presented. I'd call it a "must read!"
The book is very well written, with documented sources and court cases backing up the eye-opening information presented. I'd call it a "must read!"
March 4, 2023
"We are in deep trouble. And the hour is late." The last lines of this book chilled me to the bone. As someone who reports on money in politics for a living, I felt Whitehouse and Mueller laid out a clear, compelling case showing how special interests have shaped our political and judicial systems for decades, to the detriment of American democracy. And these political actors have done so from the shadows, hiding behind "dark money" like "battleships in the smoke."
Campaign finance laws are almost by design difficult to decipher if it's not your full-time job to study, and the various holes poked in federal regulations over the years have made that even more true. This book lays out the major mechanisms of campaign finance and how they can be used to influence politics and politicians in an accessible, understandable way, which earns it five stars from me.
A note: Democrats have dark money too, something the authors don't really touch on or grapple with in the context of this argument. But Whitehouse has consistently fought for disclosures on dark money in Congress, and there are some illuminating conversations in here about why Democrats maintain their dark money machine. It essentially boils down to "well if they have it we can't let them win," a race to the bottom.
Campaign finance laws are almost by design difficult to decipher if it's not your full-time job to study, and the various holes poked in federal regulations over the years have made that even more true. This book lays out the major mechanisms of campaign finance and how they can be used to influence politics and politicians in an accessible, understandable way, which earns it five stars from me.
A note: Democrats have dark money too, something the authors don't really touch on or grapple with in the context of this argument. But Whitehouse has consistently fought for disclosures on dark money in Congress, and there are some illuminating conversations in here about why Democrats maintain their dark money machine. It essentially boils down to "well if they have it we can't let them win," a race to the bottom.
November 28, 2022
Goodreads Giveaway - the SCOTUS appears to have rendered itself a complete joke and no longer a source of justice to be considered viable. The only viable solution to rectifying this is to destroy the SCOTUS and rebuild a new court system with stronger checks, balances, and enforceable rules. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has written a book which outlines the process of and the result of "court capture" of SCOTUS. Court capture essentially is where a court (or some other body) is surreptitiously made to work for the sector it is supposed to regulating. If you've been shocked and outraged by the actions of SCOTUS over the past 20 years or if you just have an interest in how SCOTUS has been politicized to the point of absurdity, this book is worth a read. While Senator Whitehouse is a progressive Democrat, he does marshal the writings and perspectives of many mainstream conservatives to help make his point about the extreme nature of SCOTUS. Given the Senator's background, this book will probably largely only be read by those who identify as leaning left - however, those from the middle and from the right could learn much if this book is approached with an open mind.
January 19, 2023
A complicated topic on which the author does a good job to "dumb down" for those of us not in the legal profession. So disturbing to read about some of the recent court decisions that have destroyed or seriously compromised our rights and liberties as citizens. I will now alway remember the term "Stare Decisis" that was bandied about in the Kavanaugh and Barrett confirmation hearings and meant nothing evidently when hearing a case if the "settled law" did not track with their right wing agenda. So scary to now realize how the will of a few is affecting the lives of the average American; from voting rights, gun control, reproductive rights, workplace safety, racial and discrimination in the workplace and on and on. Where will it end? The author is not optimistic. "The restoration of the Court should not be a Republican or Democratic project. It should be an American project....If we care about our constitutional system - a system of, by and for the people, not corporations and secret billionaires- something must be done, and soon. ...we are in deep trouble. And the hour is late." Truer words haven't been spoken.
June 8, 2023
As a Rhode Islander, I'm familiar with the passion with which Senator Whitehouse observes the Supreme Court. When my husband pulls up a clip of him speaking on the floor or in committee, I often ask whether his head is exploding, and the answer is usually yes. He brings that same energy to his presentation in this book, and while there are moments when it's a little over the top, I know his motivation is genuine. And I love the fact that he embraces his quirky self and no one edited that out of the text; he's definitely too young to be making a Frick and Frack reference, yet there it is.
If you watch the Supreme Court as a casual observer and suspect that the justices just back into whatever outcome they (and their sponsors) desire, here's the evidence that your suspicions are correct. Not overly technical, reasonably short, easy to follow. Even if you disagree with his politics, you should take the time to learn more about what's fueling the conservative takeover of the judiciary.
If you watch the Supreme Court as a casual observer and suspect that the justices just back into whatever outcome they (and their sponsors) desire, here's the evidence that your suspicions are correct. Not overly technical, reasonably short, easy to follow. Even if you disagree with his politics, you should take the time to learn more about what's fueling the conservative takeover of the judiciary.
December 28, 2022
Good, informative book. I thought this would be just a repeat of other books I've read about the Supreme Court, ("Supreme Inequality"), the corruption of our government, right wing dark money buying elections and such fodder for a failing democracy. It was more than that. Because the author is always relating everything back to a "Scheme" perpetrated by right wing wealth. Right wing wealth is winning, and the people, including right wing people, are losing. When it comes to the Supreme Court the Roberts court turns out to be the most corrupt of all. The explanation of the corruption and the impact on American lives should shouted from the roof tops. My opinion is we have already lost the courts. So now who do we turn to for justice?
June 9, 2023
There is little doubt that a minority rules America. It is characterized as a rich elite. It does not wish to deal with regulation or people unlike themselves. Now after a long fight they have captured the Supreme Court. Only 6% of lawyers are members of the Federalist Society but 6 members of the court compose a supermajority. Under Trump the Federalist Society, not elected politicians, selected the judges to be nominated to the courts. They do not have binding ethics rules and ignore obvious activities that show favoritism. How did that happen? This book lays out the case and it is time for every American to consider the case and decide if we can accept it if we are to remain a democracy.
December 26, 2023
Senator Whitehouse gives a scary and probably accurate description of the way moneyed interests have taken over the Robert's Supreme Court. I know during the Kavanaugh hearings I was in a Red state and the local station was an endless series of commercials urging the people to call their Senator in support.
Written after the Dobbs decision (reversing Roe v Wade) was leaked but before the decision was officially released - the book seems prescient.
Since that case the SCOTUS has made-up new (untrue) facts in the football coach prayer case and the undisclosed gifts that Clarence Thomas and others have been exposed.
We need to take Harland Crowe, the Koch brothers and Federalist society hands off the court and restore it to the people.
Written after the Dobbs decision (reversing Roe v Wade) was leaked but before the decision was officially released - the book seems prescient.
Since that case the SCOTUS has made-up new (untrue) facts in the football coach prayer case and the undisclosed gifts that Clarence Thomas and others have been exposed.
We need to take Harland Crowe, the Koch brothers and Federalist society hands off the court and restore it to the people.
January 11, 2023
This book is an incredibly important and well-researched study of how the United States Supreme Court has been entirely captured by big-money, corporate interests in the last 3 decades and only 25% of Americans have confidence in it. This is, by far, the worst rating of public confidence in the Supreme Court in the history of measuring that opinion. If you care about American justice, this book is a MUST READ for you. It's numerous conclusions are amazingly well-supported with facts and justify, in my opinion, a LOWER percentage of public confidence in the Court than as currently measured.
November 10, 2022
The subtitle tells you what the book is about. It's probably obvious, but it was horribly depressing. Yet, very informative. Very factually based and explained carefully and thoroughly. (You don't need a law degree to follow.) I can't believe Whitehouse manages to go to work each day, knowing what he's up against and how deeply in trouble we are. Worse than I imagined and I don't have great optimism about where we're headed. Still, an important and worthwhile read.
November 5, 2022
This isn't just a lawyers argument but a prosecutors argument, and a damn good one. I would love to read the conservative rebuttal but I doubt one is forthcoming. If you want to know how it worked and how it happened you could do no better than this book. This is required reading for the informed citizen.
November 28, 2022
This is an excellent book which describes in detail how dark money and special interest groups have influenced and changed the courts, in particular The Supreme Court. The book is excelllently footnoted. The arguments are consistent and factual. Examples for all arguments are presented. The book is readable, detailed and easily understood.
February 26, 2023
Remarkable mapping of how the Supreme Court has been appropriated and corrupted by dark money. In layperson terms and anchored by indisputable facts, the Senator explains how the corrupted Court is compromising the rights and freedoms of the American people, as well as our opportunities to redress grievance. It’s a fascinating, engaging read - I only wish it were fiction.
July 3, 2023
Staggering dissection of the rise of big-money interests on the Supreme Court and an indictment of the "Roberts Five" justices appointed by Bush II and Trump. Painstakingly researched and backed with notes, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has written a searing criticism that every American up in arms about the overturning of Roe v. Wade, or the chaos unleashed by Citizens United, should read.
August 11, 2023
Facts and alarming history of the politicization at capture of the nation's highest court. Former federal prosecutor and share of the Senate subcommittee on federal courts, Senator Whitehouse traces the dark money effort to control the federal courts. Scarier than anything Stephen King rights and very timely.
Put this on your must read list.
Put this on your must read list.
April 22, 2024
"The restoration of the Court should not be a Republican or Democratic project. It should be an American project, to restore democracy's City on a Hill. If we care about our constitutional system - a system of, by, and for the people, not corporations and secret billionaires - something must be done, and soon. As [Justice Powell] once wrote, we are in deep trouble. And the hour is late."
Read
October 20, 2022I am a big fan of Senator Whitehouse, but I feel abandoned by him in his new book, because he spells out an emergency, but offers no solutions, no plan forward.
Senator Whitehouse, you are a leader; how could you do this?
Senator Whitehouse, you are a leader; how could you do this?
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