DOJ charges Southern Poverty Law Center with fraud amid denials from civil rights group

The Justice Department on Tuesday announced an 11-count indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) including bank and wire fraud, charging the group in connection with a now-defunct program that used paid informants to monitor extremist groups.

The charges include six counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, with the Trump administration alleging the civil rights group was in fact funding the extremist groups — a claim the group vehemently denies.

The SPLC has increasingly become a target of the right due to its work monitoring extremist groups, including right-wing groups like Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA.  

The indictment, just 14 pages, details a number of informants employed by the SPLC, including those monitoring the planning for the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, a neo-nazi group, the Ku Klux Klan, and other white supremacist and antisemitic groups. 

While the indictment traces how the payments were made and the businesses they flowed through, it does not offer further details about how SPLC allegedly funded extremist activity beyond saying one informant “then sent funds to various violent extremist group leaders.”

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche accused the SPLC of “paying sources to stoke racial hatred.”

“To that end, it was doing the exact opposite of what it’s told its donors. It was not dismantling extremism, but funding it,” he said. 

“To carry out this scheme, SPLC created bank accounts in the name of at least five completely fictitious organizations that had no bona fide employees or legitimate business purpose,” he added, noting one informant was paid $270,000 over eight years.

It’s not illegal for companies to hire paid informants, something Blanche acknowledged during a press conference announcing the charges. 

The SPLC called the allegations as false.

“We are outraged by the false allegations levied against SPLC – an organization that for 55 years has stood as a beacon of hope fighting white supremacy and various forms of injustice to create a multi-racial democracy where we can all live and thrive,” interim CEO and president Bryan Fair said in a statement.

“Taking on violent hate and extremist groups is among the most dangerous work there is, and we believe it is also among the most important work we do. To be clear, this program saved lives.”

Blanche claimed the SPLC had failed to comply with its non-profit status, saying they committed fraud on their donors by failing to disclose the payments.

“The Southern Poverty Law Center is a 501(c)3, okay? They’re required to, under the laws associated with a nonprofit, to have certain transparency and honesty in what they’re telling donors they’re going to spend money on and what their mission statement is and what they’re raising money doing,” he said.

“And in no fundraising efforts that the investigation found, did they say, ‘Oh, and by the way, we’re going to give a million bucks to the Ku Klux Klan.’ So that’s fraud.”

The case only charges the SPLC, though Blanche said individuals may later be charged and that the investigation is ongoing.

The SPLC earlier Tuesday had forecast the charges, with Fair recording a video address.

The SPLC no longer uses paid informants but said the information they provided was critical at a time when bombings of churches and the murder of activists “went unanswered by the justice system.”

“These individuals risked their lives to infiltrate and inform on the activities of our nation’s most radical and violent extremist groups,” Fair said.

In October, the FBI severed its ties with the SPLC, which had been providing information on hate crimes and domestic extremism. FBI Director Kash Patel called the group a “partisan smear machine,” cutting ties with the Anti-Defamation League that same week.

The SPLC was formed in 1971 and works on voting rights and criminal justice reform in addition to monitoring extremism.

“The actions by the DOJ will not shake our resolve to fight for justice and ensure the promise of the Civil Rights movement becomes a reality for all. SPLC will vigorously defend ourselves, our staff and our work; we will continue to fight hate; and we will continue to envision and create a safer and more just world,” Fair said.

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