DOJ accuses Southern Poverty Law Center of fraud

The Department of Justice and the FBI announced an indictment on Tuesday alleging that the Southern Poverty Law Center fraudulently handled money. A grand jury in Alabama approved the 11-count indictment accusing the non-profit law center of six counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. The center, which describes itself as a civil rights organization fighting white supremacy and racial hatred, has labeled Christian ministries as hate groups based on opposition to homosexual conduct. The organization is presumed legally innocent until proven guilty.

The Southern Poverty Law Center engaged in massive fraud by deceiving donors and enriching itself by paying the leaders of extremist groups that the nonprofit vowed to dismantle, according to FBI Director Kash Patel.

How has the center responded? The DOJ’s allegations are false, said Southern Poverty Law Center Interim CEO and President Bryan Fair. Having stood as a beacon of hope against white supremacy and injustice for decades, SPLC is outraged by the accusations, Fair said in a statement emailed to WORLD on Wednesday. This nonprofit saved lives, and SPLC will vigorously defend itself and work, while continuing to fight hate, he added.

What evidence are federal prosecutors citing? Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Patel held a joint press conference on Tuesday, explaining the indictment, which specifically focused on the organization’s transactions from 2014 to 2023. The Southern Poverty Law Center paid at least $3 million to at least eight individuals affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan, United Klans of America, the Nationalist Socialist Party of America, and Nazis, Blanche said. He said the evidence suggested that SPLC manufactured extremism by paying sources to stoke the racial hatred it allegedly opposed.