While researching Breaking the Law: Exposing the Weaponization of America’s Legal System Against Donald Trump, I uncovered a list of billionaire “philanthropists” who were using their immense wealth to fund the lawfare superstructure.
Some are familiar to this audience, like George Soros and Reid Hoffman, but others are likely unknown to you. I summarize some key findings here.
One name that was new to me prior to beginning work on Breaking the Law was Herb Sandler. (Sandler and Soros collaborate, as I explain below.)
I did a long interview with Dr. Michael Savage for his podcast, which just appeared on his Newsmax television show, where he specifically wanted to zero in on Sandler and the Sandler Foundation.
LISTEN TO ALEX’S INTERVIEW WITH DR. MICHAEL SAVAGE:
Here is what you need to know about Herb Sandler:
In recent years, no one has done more to weaponize fake news against conservative jurists than ProPublica. ProPublica is a nonprofit largely funded by the Sandler Foundation, which was founded by late leftist banking magnate and billionaire Herb Sandler. Sandler was one of the pioneers of using the veneer of philanthropy to fund activist organizations.
Marion O. Sandler (left) and Herbert M. Sandler, the vice chairman and chairman of Golden West Financial Corp., on November 4, 1976. (Ed Maker/The Denver Post via Getty Images)
Herb Sandler built a fortune through Golden West Financial Corporation (which operated branches as World Savings Bank). It was, at one time, the second-largest savings and loan association in the United States and thrived for decades partially by selling “Pick-a-Pay” loans, a type of ARM designed to give borrowers flexibility in their payments. These types of loans drew heavy criticism and are widely considered “predatory.”
The Pick-a-Pay criticism ramped up substantially after the 2008 financial crisis, which happened to be just after Sandler cashed out, selling Golden West to Wachovia for over $25 billion in 2006 (Herb and his wife Marion would have bagged about ten percent of that). Wachovia factored significantly into the 2008 financial crisis due to a heavy portfolio of risky mortgage assets. (The Sandlers have defended themselves, saying their Pick-a-Pay product did better under their stewardship — i.e., a lower default rate than Wachovia.)
Workers enter the World Savings Center, headquarters to Golden West Financial Corp. on May 8, 2006, in Oakland, California. Wachovia Corp., announced May 7 that it plans to purchase Golden West Financial Corp., which owns World Savings, for $25 billion in a stock-and-cash acquisition valued at 15 percent above Golden West’s closing stock price the previous week. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Pedestrians pass by a Wachovia branch bank on October 22, 2008, in New York. Wachovia reported a record quarterly loss of nearly $24 billion. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
In summation, Herb Sandler got rich off pioneering a risky loan product, cashed out before the financial crisis, and started a foundation to fund leftist activism with the money.
Without Herb Sandler, there would be no ProPublica, which has, for years, attempted to destabilize the Supreme Court with its exposés.
ProPublica is essentially a glorified opposition research-gathering entity that finds dirt on the political targets of its ultra-wealthy donors. Essentially, it is activism with journalism characteristics, and it has its sights set on conservative justices. This is not a bad business model (we on the right should have more publications like this). Just because someone gathered the information specifically to attack a political target, that doesn’t mean the information isn’t true.
Media reports often failed to note that ProPublica’s top donors are on the activist left. George Soros’s Foundation to Promote Open Society has given more than $3 million to ProPublica, for example.
ProPublica exists for the express purpose of advancing causes associated with modern liberalism and leftism. That means they cherry-pick their targets.
Their investigations into Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, for example, have been pure lawfare. They have repeatedly attacked Supreme Court Justice Thomas because he vacations with a wealthy friend who donates to Republicans. There is no evidence that Thomas has done anything illegal or altered a single one of his decisions because of his friend. The reporting adds nothing to our cultural consciousness other than the suggestion that Justice Thomas is a bad guy. The stories are then weaponized by Democrats who call for burdensome investigations and even court-packing.
Hit pieces on Thomas that suggest a lot but prove nothing of substance are among their most high-traffic content.
It’s also noteworthy that ProPublica obsessively publishes hit pieces on UnitedHealth, an insurance company, for allegedly denying care to certain aggrieved people. The CEO of UnitedHealth was assassinated after one of several ProPublica features on the company. The assassin was not even one of their customers. Had he seen the ProPublica stories before he committed the acts of vigilantism? ProPublica doesn’t care, apparently, as they continued the series on UnitedHealth just days after the murder.
The Sandler Foundation deserves its own special recognition. Aside from starting ProPublica and donating tens of millions of dollars to it, it has cut millions in checks to the Campaign Legal Center and the American Constitution Society, both of which have supported referrals for Justice Thomas to the Justice Department for criminal and civil penalties for alleged ethics violations.
The Sandler Foundation is also part of the infamous left-wing dark money network Arabella Advisors.
It funds the group that does the journalism, then funds separate groups that publicize, elevate, and weaponize the journalism. See how the superstructure works?
The Sandler Foundation has funded leftist groups like the Center for American Progress, American Civil Liberties Union, Human Rights Watch, and the Sierra Club, among others.
Much of this is funded with anonymous donations.
Though ethically dubious, this is undeniably powerful in the strategic sense.
They also work closely with other leftist megadonors George Soros and Reid Hoffman to form a lawfare hydra. It is thanks to this group of people that there is a vast network of leftist prosecutors throughout the country who are ready, willing, and able to bend and break the rule of law to suit their benefactors’ political desires.
This article was adapted from portions of Breaking the Law.
Marlow’s new book, Breaking the Law: Exposing the Weaponization of America’s Legal System Against Donald Trump, which has been hailed by President Trump as a “must read,” is available in hardcover, eReader format, and as an audiobook read by the author himself.
Alex Marlow is the editor-in-chief of Breitbart News, a three-time New York Times bestselling author, and the host of “The Alex Marlow Show” podcast produced weekdays by Breitbart News and Salem Podcast Network. You can subscribe to the podcast on YouTube, Rumble, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. You can follow Alex on Facebook, Instagram, and X at @AlexMarlow.
