Texas A&M University is trying to withhold dozens of emails from The Intercept about a new research center funded by conservative megadonor Leonard Leo, according to a filing to the state attorney general under Texas’s public records law.
The Intercept filed rebuttals with the state attorney general’s office, which must sign off on such nondisclosures under the law, arguing that the exemptions invoked do not apply.
Leo made a $15 million commitment in 2022 to Texas A&M Law to establish the Center on the Structural Constitution, The Intercept reported last month.
The co-chair of the Federalist Society, whose activism and philanthropic efforts helped foment a rightward lurch in the judiciary, including the Supreme Court, had previously workshopped a center with an almost identical name at Cornell Law School, his alma mater. But opposition from Cornell faculty ultimately killed the proposal.
Through a representative, Leo previously declined to answer The Intercept’s questions about the Texas A&M center, including when he first approached the school with the idea. Similarly, both Texas A&M and its law school declined to answer questions about the donation.
However, former Texas A&M President........