EXCLUSIVE: ‘Shady trial lawyer pipeline' funneling millions to Democrats according to report
EXCLUSIVE — One of the country's leading consumer protection firms released a report today exposing a "shady lawyer pipeline" of politicians handing out lucrative public contracts to trial lawyers, who in turn contribute millions of dollars to liberal political campaigns, including $1.4 million to the Harris-Walz campaign in 2024.
The report – released by Alliance for Consumers (AFC) – highlights the deep Democratic ties of eight major consumer protection law firms - Morgan & Morgan, Lieff Cabraser, Motley Rice, Baron & Budd, Grant & Eisenhofer, Berger Montague, Cohen Milstein and Simmons Hanly - which it dubs the "shady eight."
According to AFC, these firms hold profitable public contracts across the country and contributed around $25 million in political donations from 2017 through 2024.
In 2024 alone, the firms collectively donated $4 million to political campaigns, 99% of which were for Democrat candidates or Democrat-allied committees.
During the 2024 presidential election, the firms contributed $1.4 million to former Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign.
The shady eight also prioritized midterm Senate races, the report found, with Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and former Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Bob Casey, D – Penn., and Jon Tester, D – Mont. receiving the largest contributions next to Harris.
Five of the firms — Lieff Cabraser, Motley Rice, Grant & Eisenhofer, Simmons Hanly, and Baron & Budd – showed a 100% commitment to Democrats and their allies, generating more than $2.5 million in federal donations in 2024.
"The consumer should never be on the losing side of a left-wing political money game like what is on display in the Shady Trial Lawyer Pipeline," AFC says in its report. "This partisan political giving is supported by money from public contracts signed by politicians and public officials; money that belongs to the taxpayers and consumers."
AFC said "the 'Shady Eight' are stark examples—although far from the only ones—of how the Shady Trial Lawyer Pipeline works, with politicians feeding sweetheart contracts to trial lawyers who give 99% of their political donations to liberals and will happily turn around and pump millions of dollars into left-leaning candidates, committees, and allied organizations."
O.H. Skinner, executive director of the Alliance for Consumers, told Fox News Digital the report "shows how left-wing trial lawyers have turned consumer protection efforts into a political game."
He urged states to move to end their contracts with these "shady" law firms.
"The contracts that states have with these firms make some sense if the goal is funding left-wing political campaigns, but, for many reasons, they are exactly the wrong way to protect consumers," he said. "Ending the Shady Trial Lawyer Pipeline is one of the strongest steps public officials can take to protect consumers and the rule of law."
This comes as Republicans in Congress move to rein in "out of control" rulings by activist judges that have inhibited some of the most highly-prioritized aspects of the Trump administration's agenda, such as immigration enforcement and the deportation of criminal migrant gang members.
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