Trump adviser hounded by angry neighbors after he bought home on liberal island off Maine coast

A erstwhile Trump advisor has been hounded by neighbors aft moving to a wide land disconnected Maine.

Leonard Leo, a blimpish lawyer, has been credited with helping to reshape the U.S. courts and Republican politics.

His efforts culminated successful Trump's archetypal word with the assignment of 3 blimpish Supreme Court justices, and the overturning of the landmark Roe v. Wade termination ruling.

It turned him into a leader to conservatives and a villain to liberals.

In 2020 Leo and his household moved to Mount Desert Island, a tranquil and sparsely populated land disconnected the seashore of Maine.

It should person led to comparatively anonymous life, but a refuge it has not turned retired to be.

The conservative's beingness - contempt important charitable giving to section nonprofits and large spending locally - has generated fissures successful a spot wherever implicit 70 percent of residents voted against Trump successful 2024.

'It feels precise personal,' Caroline Pryor, 65, who has lived connected the land for 4 decades, told the Associated Press. 'He comes to a tiny quiescent assemblage successful the precise northeast country of the state and does this evil, far-reaching enactment that is going to impact truthful galore millions of people, but helium wants to conscionable unrecorded this anonymous, quiescent life.'

In October, conscionable 2 weeks earlier November's election, Pryor and a twelve different people, mostly women, gathered extracurricular Leo's property to protestation during the island's yearly marathon.

They came equipped with a cartoonish life-sized puppet of Leo, a rainbow arch for runners to walk through, and bluish and pinkish chalk with which they scribbled slogans including 'You Are Amazing, Leonard Leo Is Not' connected the road.

The protesters besides rang cowbells arsenic a boombox blasted Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift and Queen songs.

'We are making radical connected the land alert of who helium is, and they mightiness question taking his money,' Mary Jane Schepers, 1 of the protesters, said arsenic she urged runners to flip disconnected Leo's home. 'They are taking soiled money.'

Leo, successful effect to a bid of written questions from AP, said helium 'had ne'er truly thought about' whether his determination to the land would spur opposition.

He said: 'While I disagree with them and with what immoderate of them bash and say, they are radical created by God with dignity and worthy and their beingness has been an invitation to commune for them.'

Leo, 59, and his household for decades had vacationed connected Mount Desert Island, an idyllic isle known for its rocky beauty, windswept beaches and the famed Acadia National Park. It has a colonisation of 10,000,

In 2018, helium purchased a $3.3 million, 8,000-square-foot Tudor-style property successful Northeast Harbor, 1 of Mount Desert Island's wealthiest towns.

Some of the country's astir influential and affluent radical - scions similar John D. Rockefeller Jr., billionaires similar Mitchell Rales and celebrities specified arsenic Martha Stewart - person sought privateness and anonymity connected the island.

Backlash swiftly followed Leo's arrival.

The adjacent year, protesters descended connected his location arsenic helium hosted a fundraiser for Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

He soon drew much protests erstwhile helium was invited to present the then-president of The Heritage Foundation, a blimpish deliberation tank, astatine a adjacent college, starring the instauration to rescind the invitation.

The protests grew adjacent the extremity of Trump's archetypal word and spiked aft the conservative-dominated Supreme Court successful 2022 overturned the law close to abortion.

Activists' archetypal extremity was to person Leo to permission but erstwhile that failed, they turned their absorption to informing residents astir the antheral successful the Tudor-style mansion.

'He felt helium could travel here, and it would beryllium a spot to get away' from the antagonistic attraction helium gets for his politics, said Murray Ngoima, a regular protester.

'We person managed to gully attraction to what helium is doing. And that is simply a occupation for him.'

The protests person compelled Leo to measurement up information astatine his estate.

A protester was arrested successful 2022, a confrontation with constabulary that led to a suit and $62,500 colony implicit First Amendment violations.

Amid the protests, Leo has stepped up his charitable giving, telling AP that the activists person 'strengthened our condemnation to beryllium arsenic progressive arsenic imaginable successful helping assorted institutions connected the island.'

That has meant tens of thousands of dollars going to section nonprofits.

He and his wife, Sally, gave implicit $50,000 successful 2020 to the Island Housing Trust, an enactment seeking to boost the magnitude of affordable lodging connected the island.

The trust's yearly giving study besides listed Leo arsenic a subordinate of the group's enactment committee.

Similar donations were made implicit the adjacent 3 years.

Leo and his woman were besides listed arsenic donors to the Mount Desert Island Hospital and the Northeast Harbor Library.

But immoderate residents expressed suspicions astir Leo's donations.

Protesters urged the groups to instrumentality the wealth and compared the donations to the mode Leo has influenced Republican politics.

'He is simply a wolf successful sheep's clothing,' said Susan Covino Buell, an land resident. 'We can't conscionable enactment similar helium is simply a regular idiosyncratic successful our community.'

Buell, 75, resigned her presumption connected the lodging nonprofit's run committee erstwhile Leo got progressive with the charity.

She had tried to person the nonprofit to cull the wealth 'because I conscionable felt it was truthful tainted,' Buell said.

A radical of anti-Leo activists besides penned an unfastened missive urging the infirmary to instrumentality its donation due to the fact that of Leo's relation successful ending national termination protections.

Mariah Cormier, a infirmary spokeswoman, said the instauration accepts 'charitable donations that assistance successful strengthening the wellness and vibrancy of our community.'

Leo dismissed the thought his donations were aimed astatine buying acceptance from a skeptical community, saying radical 'can justice for themselves wherefore I bash what I do.'

It isn't conscionable Leo's philanthropy that is arguable connected the island.

His concern astatine section establishments presents a quandary for store owners and work workers.

Many said they reason Leo's governmental positions, but they request his wealth to prolong their enterprises, allowing shops and restaurants that erstwhile closed during frigid winters to enactment unfastened longer.

Leo is specified a delicate taxable that aggregate store owners declined to beryllium interviewed by the Associated Press.

The devout Roman Catholic has besides donated to the island's Catholic churches.

Sacred Spaces Foundation, a nonprofit that counts Leo arsenic its president and sole member, purchased St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church successful Northeast Harbor for $2.65 cardinal successful 2023 from the Roman Catholic Bishop of Portland.

The religion present holds 1 work a week during the summer, erstwhile Northeast Harbor is busiest.

Leo is simply a besides a regular astatine different parish, Holy Redeemer, a ample chromatic sanctuary successful Bar Harbor wherever his woman is the caput of the euphony ministry.

His beingness has driven disconnected immoderate longtime congregants, residents said.

Lindy Stretch, an 80-year-old who converted to Catholicism astatine Holy Redeemer implicit a decennary ago, near the congregation due to the fact that of what she said was Leo's increasing power successful the church.

;I conscionable couldn't basal to ticker that,' Stretch said.

Asked astir radical leaving the land church, Leo said helium was 'thankful for each idiosyncratic who takes the clip to travel to Holy Redeemer and is striving to beryllium successful national with the religion and Christ, careless of what they bash oregon judge successful their backstage lives.'

Not everyone is upset astir Leo's determination to Maine, with Republicans successful the authorities coming to his defense.

House Republican Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham, who represents a territory conscionable disconnected the island, excoriated the protesters and hailed Leo for 'sticking to his beliefs and donating to the causes helium believes in.'

Since 2020, Leo's web has funneled implicit $1 cardinal to blimpish causes successful the state.

But those donations person lone deepened the absorption to Leo among his astir predominant protesters.

'He is succeeding,' admitted Bo Greene, a 63-year-old protester. 'We are making him uncomfortable. But helium is inactive here.'