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SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER CHARGED WITH DEFRAUDING DONORS WITH
PAYMENTS TO EXTREMIST INFORMANTS
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Collin Binkley, Alanna Durkin Richer, and Rebecca Boone
April 21, 2026
AP
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_ “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,” replied SPLC _
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche speaks as FBI Director Kash
Patel listens during a news conference at the Justice Department,
Tuesday, April 21, 2026, in Washington., (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Southern Poverty Law Center
[[link removed]] was indicted
Tuesday on federal fraud charges alleging it improperly raised
millions of dollars to secretly pay leaders of the Ku Klux Klan and
other hate groups for inside information, acting Attorney General Todd
Blanche said.
The Justice Department alleges the civil rights group defrauded donors
by using their money to fund the very extremism it claimed to be
fighting, with more than $3 million paid to informants through a
now-defunct program to infiltrate white supremacist and other
extremist groups. Prosecutors allege some of the money was used by
extremists to carry out other crimes, but court papers did not include
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 civil rights group faces charges of wire fraud, bank fraud and
conspiracy to commit money laundering in the case brought in the
federal court in Alabama, where the organization is based.
The indictment came shortly after the SPLC revealed the existence of a
criminal investigation into its disbanded informant program to gather
intelligence on extremist group activities. The group said the program
was used to monitor threats of violence and the information was often
shared with local and federal law enforcement.
The SPLC said it “will vigorously defend ourselves, our staff, and
our work” against what it described as false allegations. The group
said its 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 in
a statement. “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
The Justice Department alleges the SPLC made false statements to banks
in order to set up accounts used to funnel money to informants. The
group created bank accounts for fictitious entities such as “Fox
Photography” and “Rare Books Warehouse” that were used to send
money from donors to informants, in a scheme to conceal the money’s
actual purpose, the indictment alleges.
Prosecutors say the group never disclosed to donors details of the
informant program.
“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,” Blanche said.
The indictment includes details on at least nine unnamed informants
were paid by the SPLC through a secret program that prosecutors say
began in the 1980s. Within the SPLC, they were known as field sources
or “the Fs,” according to the indictment.
One informant was paid more than $1 million between 2014 and 2023
while affiliated with the neo-Nazi National Alliance, the indictment
said. Prosecutors say another informant was a member of the “online
leadership chat group” that planned the 2017 white nationalist
“Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The
informant attended the rally at the direction of the SPLC, according
to the indictment, and helped coordinate transportation for several
others. That person was allegedly paid more than $270,000 between 2015
and 2013.
The SPLC said the program was kept quiet to protect the safety of
informants.
“When we began working with informants, we were living in the shadow
of the height of the Civil Rights Movement
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churches, state-sponsored violence against demonstrators, and the
murders of activists that went unanswered by the justice system,”
Fair said. “There is no question that what we learned from
informants saved lives.”
THE CENTER HAS BEEN TARGETED BY REPUBLICANS
The SPLC, which is based in Montgomery, Alabama, was founded in 1971
and used civil litigation to fight white supremacist groups. The
nonprofit has become a popular target among Republicans
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see it as overly leftist and partisan.
The investigation could add to concerns that Trump’s Republican
administration is using the Justice Department to go after
conservative opponents and his critics. It follows a number of other
investigations into Trump foes that have raised questions
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about whether the law enforcement agency has been turned into a
political weapon.
The SPLC has faced intense criticism from conservatives, who have
accused it of unfairly maligning right-wing organizations as extremist
groups because of their viewpoints. The center regularly condemns
Trump’s rhetoric and policies around voting rights, immigration and
other issues.
The center came under fresh scrutiny after the assassination
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last year of conservative activist Charlie Kirk brought renewed
attention to its characterization of the group that Kirk founded and
led. The center included a section on that group, Turning Point USA,
in a report titled “The Year in Hate and Extremism 2024” that
described the group as “A Case Study of the Hard Right in 2024.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said last year that the agency was severing
its relationship with the center
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which had long provided law enforcement with research on hate crime
and domestic extremism. Patel said the center had been turned into a
“partisan smear machine,” and he accused it of defaming
“mainstream Americans” with its “hate map” that documents
alleged anti-government and hate groups inside the United States.
House Republicans hosted a hearing centered on the SPLC in December,
saying it coordinated efforts with President Joe Biden’s Democratic
administration “to target Christian and conservative Americans and
deprive them of their constitutional rights to free speech and free
association.”
_Collin Binkley covers the White House and education policy for The
Associated Press. He is based in Washington and joined the AP in 2015.
Alanna Dirkin Richer covers the Justice Department and federal
courts. She joined The AP in 2013 and is based in Washington.
Rebecca Boone is a correspondent who covers breaking news, the
courts, accountability issues and more for The Associated Press. She
is based in Boise, Idaho._
* Southern Poverty Law Center
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* DOJ
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* indictment
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