Mark Levin at CPAC 2016. (Getty)
Mark Levin is one of the U.S.’ most powerful voices and his influence was on full display on March 4. That day, a theory he shared on his radio show that President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower during the presidential campaign reached the Twitter page of President Donald Trump, hours after Brietbart supported the claims. Members of the Trump Administration then spent the weekend trying to explain Trump’s tweets, culminating with a statement that Trump is requesting “congressional intelligence committees exercise their oversight authority to determine whether executive branch investigative powers were abused in 2016.”
Levin has been entrenched in Washington politics since the early 1980s, when he worked in the Ronald Reagan administration. The 59-year-old Philadelphia native currently hosts The Mark Levin Show, which has been broadcast nationally since 2006.
Here’s a look at Levin’s career, politics and net worth.
1. Levin Told His Listeners That There Is a ‘Silent Coup’ Led by Obama Against Trump
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On March 2, Levin told his listeners that he thinks Obama and veterans of his administration are behind a “silent coup” against Trump that has been overshadowed by the controversy surrounding Attorney General Jeff Sessions and reports of the Trump campaign’s alleged communication with Russia.
“There’s a much bigger scandal here: We have a prior administration,” Levin said, reports RealClearPolitics. “Barack Obama and his surrogates, who are supporting Hillary Clinton and her party, the Democratic Party. Who were using the… intelligence activities to surveil members of the Trump campaign, and to put that information out in the public. Those are police state tactics. Nothing Flynn or Sessions has done is even in the same category as that. The question is: Was Obama surveilling top Trump campaign officials during the election?”
Levin then said that we “absolutely know” that the FBI started a criminal investigation into a connection between a Trump server and Russian banks. “Instead of closing the investigation, the Obama administration tried to turn it into a FISA court investigation in June [2016]. Apparently the first application they submitted named Trump,” Levin said.
After Levin’s radio show, Brietbart published a timeline outlining the “silent coup.”
The New York Times reported that there wasn’t any confirmed evidence that the FBI did get a court warrant to wiretap the Trump Organization. In his tweets, Trump appeared to repeat Levin’s assertion that the warrants were issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and the Obama Administration tried to get other warrants to wiretap Trump, but were “turned down.”
Former DNI James Clapper told NBC News that there “was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president, the president-elect at the time, or as a candidate, or against his campaign.” He also denied that there was a FISA order to monitor Trump Tower.
Levin went on Fox News on March 5 to defend his theory, stating that the “evidence is overwhelming” to prove that Obama spied on Trump.
In a statement released by his spokesman, former President Obama denied that he personally ordered Trump wiretapped.
A cardinal rule of the Obama Administration was that no White House official ever interfered with any independent investigation led by the Department of Justice. As part of that practice, neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizen. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false.
2. Levin Supported Ted Cruz & Wasn’t Happy About Voting for Trump
Mark Levin in 2011. (Getty)
Back in March 2016, Levin endorsed Texas Senator Ted Cruz for President.
“I support Ted Cruz for president of the United States because he appreciate, he embraces, he understands, and he has fought for the Constitution, the republic, individual sovereignty, separation of powers, the Bill of Rights, family, faith, a secure border, our national security,” Levin said at the time, reports the Washington Times.
Levin then declared himself a member of the “Never Trump” movement, but ultimately admitted in September that he will have to vote for Trump.
“I’m gonna vote for Donald Trump. I’m gonna wind up voting for Donald Trump on Election Day,” Levin said in September. “I take no responsibility for the dumb things [Trump] says or the dumb things his surrogates say. Just as I took no responsibility for the dumb things any candidate I vote for says.”
Levin clearly didn’t plan on considering Hillary Clinton after Cruz dropped out of the race. In October 2016, Levin said that Clinton “is so dishonest and dirty” and called for an “unencumbered” investigation into Clinton after FBI Director James Comey re-opened the investigation into Clinton’s emails.
He also supported Trump calling Clinton a “nasty woman.”
“She has demonstrated in her public capacity, in her official capacity that she’s irresponsible, that she’s dangerous, and that she’s nasty,” Levin said in October.
In February 2017, Levin also told his listeners that he thinks President Barack Obama was an anti-Semite and called him the “biggest funder of terrorism the world has ever seen.”
3. Before Joining the Conservative Media, He Worked for Reagan Cabinet Members
As his National Review bio notes, he was a top adviser for several members of President Ronald Reagan’s cabinet. He rose to become chief of staff for Attorney General Edwin Meese.
The Temple University graduate is also president of the Landmark Legal Fund. Levin was also a guest at Troopathon, an annual event that supports troops after they have returned home. It is organized by the non-profit charity Move America Forward in partnership with the conservative media company Newsmax.
In September 2015, Levin also became the editor-in-chief of Conservative Review.
“My parents always taught me to be thankful that I lived in this country and to appreciate the people who created such a marvelous society,” Levin told Philly.com in 2009.
4. Levin’s Books Push His Originalist View of the Constitution
Levin has written since books since 2005, and many of these focus on what he considers attacks on the U.S. Constitution. His first book was Men in Black, win which he insisted that Americans’ constitutional freedoms are under attack by “activist judges.”
As Levin wrote in a foreword to the paperback edition:
I wrote Men in Black to warn you, my fellow citizens, that our freedoms are at risk from judges who usurp the Constitution. I wanted to help spur a national debate – as I do on my radio show – over the Supreme Court’s role, the judicial oligarchy that increasingly rules over us, and the sort of judges who should be appointed to the court.
Even after President George W. Bush appointed Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, Levin felt that the Supreme Court has “spectacular arrogance and lawlessness.”
His following books were Rescuing Sprite: A Dog Lover’s Story of Joy and Anguish (2007), Liberty and Tyranny: A Conservative Manifesto (2009), Ameritopia: The Unkaming of America (2012), The Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic (2013) and Plunder and Deceit: Big Government’s Exploitation of Young People and the Future (2015).
The Liberty Amendments includes 10 amendments to the constitution that Levin thinks would “restore” the Republic, notes RedState. These include term limits for members of Congress, taking away the people’s right to vote for Senators, limiting taxation and bureaucracy and requiring photo IDs for all federal elections.
5. Levin Said He Was ‘Intimidated’ by a GOP Presidential Campaign Because His Fiancee’s Son Works for Ted Cruz
Levin has managed to keep his private life very private.
He angrily said on his radio show in January 2016 that a Republican presidential candidate was trying to “intimidate” him because his fiancee’s son works in Ted Cruz’s office. Levin didn’t reveal the name of his fiancee or his fiancee’s son.
“I do not, by the way, believe it’s the Trump campaign,” Levin said in January 2016. “Either he’s — that, or he’s completely two-faced, and I don’t believe that. He called me a couple weeks ago. He couldn’t have been more complimentary. It was a very friendly discussion. I could be wrong, but I doubt it. I think it’s a campaign that has its genesis on Capitol Hill. Because it’s a very insular, cloistered environment up there. I could be wrong, but I think I know.”
It’s not clear who Levin’s fiancee is because in a 2009 Philly.com profile, he revealed that he was married to Kendall Levin. It’s not clear if or when he split from Kendall. He does have two children – Chase and Lauren Levin.
Celebrity Net Worth estimates that Levin has an estimated net worth of $5 million. In February 2016, his radio show was renewed through 2025.
