WASHINGTON — The Southern Poverty Law Center pushed back against federal prosecutors Tuesday, arguing that government agencies were fully aware of the civil rights organization’s practice of paying sources within extremist organizations to gather intelligence on hate group activities.
The Alabama-based civil rights watchdog faces federal fraud and money laundering charges filed last week. Federal prosecutors allege the organization deceived contributors by channeling donation funds to informants who held leadership positions in the same white supremacist organizations the center publicly opposed.
In court documents filed in Alabama federal court, the organization’s legal team demanded that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche withdraw his claims that the government had “no information” regarding the informant network. The group also seeks to prevent Blanche from making additional similar public statements. Blanche made these assertions during a news conference and subsequent Fox News appearance when announcing the criminal charges.
The court filings outline three specific occasions where the SPLC claims intelligence from its source network was provided to law enforcement to help disrupt white supremacist activities. Defense attorneys say they shared evidence from at least one incident during an April meeting with federal prosecutors. After Blanche’s public statements claiming authorities were uninformed, the organization requested a correction, which the government refused to provide.
“The Department of Justice is well aware that the SPLC provided helpful information, through the use of its confidential informants, to law enforcement,” the organization stated in its filing. “The Department of Justice also knows that these confidential informants helped law enforcement put violent extremists in jail.”
Defense lawyers argue that Blanche’s public comments could influence potential jurors and undermine their client’s constitutional right to an impartial trial.
President Donald Trump has highlighted the prosecution, labeling the SPLC one of the “greatest political scams in American History” while linking it to his unfounded assertions about the 2020 election outcome. Opposition voices characterize the case as politically driven prosecution designed to target conservative adversaries through Justice Department resources.
The criminal indictment alleges the organization secretly supported racist movements while publicly claiming to combat them. Prosecutors cite an example where an SPLC-funded source helped organize the 2017 white nationalist “Unite the Right” demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia, and participated under SPLC direction.
However, the organization’s court response reveals it provided a comprehensive 45-page “event alert” to federal investigators before the Charlottesville rally, containing intelligence gathered through the informant network, including details about participants’ weapons.
In a 2019 incident, the SPLC maintains that information from its source network helped prevent a planned assault in Las Vegas. The organization says it provided intelligence to law enforcement that resulted in FBI agents arresting an individual connected to Atomwaffen Division, a neo-Nazi organization. A 2020 Justice Department announcement indicated the suspect had discussed targeting a synagogue and an LGBTQ establishment. He received a two-year prison sentence.
In another case, the SPLC reports that intelligence from the informant network led to the conviction of an individual who concealed his white supremacist connections while seeking security clearance. The unnamed individual worked at Philadelphia’s Navy Yard in 2018 and was convicted and imprisoned following the tip.
SPLC attorneys say they presented evidence to prosecutors during an April 6 meeting demonstrating how informant intelligence was shared with law enforcement in that particular case.
Along with demanding a retraction, the SPLC filed a motion requesting grand jury records to verify that misleading information wasn’t used to obtain the indictment. The organization claims Justice Department misrepresentations “suggest that the grand jury was not merely misled by the government’s presentation of the law, but likely that it was actively weaponized to facilitate such charges.”
Prosecutors claim the SPLC directed over $3 million in donated funds to sources who served as leaders in the KKK, the neo-Nazi National Alliance, and other extremist organizations. The center faces charges of donor fraud and making false statements to establish bank accounts used for transferring money to informants.
During a news conference, Blanche stated the organization was “manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred.” Justice Department representatives have indicated these charges represent the initial phase of a continuing investigation.
The organization faced additional examination following last year’s assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who established and directed Turning Point USA. The SPLC had described Kirk’s organization as “A Case Study of the Hard Right in 2024” in a publication titled “The Year in Hate and Extremism 2024.”
In a Tuesday statement, Bryan Fair, interim president and CEO of SPLC, emphasized that information shared with federal investigators has prevented loss of life.
“When threats and other unlawful activity were revealed, the SPLC immediately passed that information to law enforcement officials, local, state and federal and assisted in efforts to prevent violence and stop criminal activity,” Fair said.
