The far-right Heritage Foundation continues to fall apart as legal scholars exit in droves, fed up with the ongoing scandal of its president refusing to condemn GOP personality Tucker Carlson's association with neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes. But on Monday, a very notable name cut ties with the group — leaving observers astonished.
Hans von Spakovsky is known to some as an unapologetic extreme-right culture warrior. He has been a key crusader for GOP legislation restricting voting rights, and went out of his way to exclude Democratic Party election officials from getting a seat on a task force investigating unfounded voter fraud conspiracy theories. His exit from the Heritage Foundation comes as he and Cully Stimson, who is also resigning, had just been named as the interim directors of the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, which a previous wave of resignations had already hollowed out.
"It is with a heavy heart and profound sadness that we resign our positions ... effective immediately," wrote Spakovsky and Stimson in a joint letter to Heritage leadership obtained by Audrey Fahlberg of the National Review. "We joined Heritage because of its leadership in the conservative movement, guided by Ed Feulner and General Meese for over 40 years. We regret leaving what has long been the premier conservative institution where we have spent so much of our legal careers but feel we can no longer carry out that mission established by them."
This departure sent shockwaves among conservative political commentators on X.
"Hans von Spakovsky leaving Heritage is a very big deal," wrote right-wing analyst Erick Erickson.
"Wow. Heritage just said Cully Stimson and Hans von Spakovsky would helm the (erstwhile) Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies within the last 24 hours!" wrote National Review's Noah Rothman, adding, "Eager to hear how Hans van Spakovsky, who has been lending intellectual heft to the right’s legal and cultural crusades long before most of the new right were born and/or registered Republicans is an ideological deviationist."
"The Meese Center is basically empty now," wrote Josh Blackman, another former Heritage Foundation talent who himself just resigned.
"I am actually speechless," wrote Cam Erickson, the legislative director to pro-Trump Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ). "Hans von Spakovsky is THE guy. He is the gold standard for election integrity policy ... You don’t lose a guy like Hans unless the leadership is fundamentally broken."