WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced Tuesday that the Southern Poverty Law Center has been indicted on federal fraud charges, accusing the civil rights organization of secretly using donor funds to pay leaders of the Ku Klux Klan and other extremist groups for inside information.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said prosecutors allege the SPLC “defrauded donors by using their money to fund the very extremism it claimed to be fighting,” including more than $3 million distributed to informants through a now-defunct program to infiltrate white supremacist and other extremist groups. Court papers say some of the payments were used by extremists to commit other crimes, but the indictment does not provide specific examples.
“The SPLC was not dismantling these groups. It was instead manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred,” Blanche said.
The organization faces charges including wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in a case filed in federal court in Alabama, where the SPLC is headquartered.
The indictment follows the SPLC’s recent disclosure that it had been the subject of a criminal probe into its disbanded informant program, which the group says was used to monitor threats and that information was often shared with local and federal law enforcement. The SPLC responded that it “will vigorously defend ourselves, our staff, and our work” and maintained that the informant program saved lives.
“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,” interim CEO and president Bryan Fair said. “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.”
A program that dated back to the 1980s
According to the indictment, the SPLC made false statements to banks to create accounts used to funnel money to informants, setting up accounts under fictitious business names such as “Fox Photography” and “Rare Books Warehouse” to hide the funds’ true purpose. Prosecutors say donors were not told details about the informant program.
“Nonprofits are required to be transparent and honest with donors about how money will be spent and what their mission is,” Blanche said.
The filing describes at least nine unnamed informants — internally referred to as field sources or “the Fs” — paid through a covert program the government says started in the 1980s. One informant allegedly received more than $1 million between 2014 and 2023 while affiliated with the neo-Nazi National Alliance. Another informant allegedly belonged to an online leadership chat that planned the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia; prosecutors say that person attended the rally at the SPLC’s direction and helped coordinate transportation for others, and was paid more than $270,000.
The SPLC says secrecy around the program was intended to protect informants, noting the history of violence against civil rights activists and arguing that information obtained from sources helped prevent harm.
The center has been targeted by Republicans
Founded in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1971, the SPLC has used litigation to challenge white supremacist groups but has also long been criticized by conservatives as partisan. The indictment comes amid broader scrutiny and criticism from Republicans, and some observers say it could fuel concerns that the Trump administration is using the Justice Department against political opponents.
The center has faced accusations from conservatives of unfairly labeling right-wing organizations as extremist. Its reports and the “hate map” that catalogs alleged hate and anti-government groups drew sharp rebukes from some officials. Last year, FBI Director Kash Patel announced the agency was cutting ties with the SPLC, calling it a “partisan smear machine,” and House Republicans held a December hearing alleging the organization collaborated with the Biden administration to target conservative and Christian groups.
The SPLC’s inclusion of Turning Point USA in a report titled “The Year in Hate and Extremism 2024” — a section that drew attention after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last year — intensified criticism from the right and helped fuel the political attacks that preceded the current criminal case.