A federal grand jury indicted the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on Tuesday for allegedly making fraudulent payments to racist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).
“The SPLC is manufacturing racism to justify its existence,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement announcing the charges. “Using donor money to allegedly profit off Klansmen cannot go unchecked. This Department of Justice will hold the SPLC and every other fraudulent organization operating with the same deceptive playbook accountable. No entity is above the law.”
According to a Justice Department press release, the SPLC — which has often put targets on the backs of nonviolent conservative organizations by falsely labeling them as “hate groups” — has been charged with 11 counts of “wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering.” Per the presser, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama Northern Division “filed two forfeiture actions to recover alleged proceeds of the organization’s fraud scheme.”
The agency noted that the indictment returned by the Alabama grand jury detailed how the SPLC reportedly began a “covert network” in the 1980s comprised of individuals “who were either associated with violent and extremist groups … or who had infiltrated violent extremist groups at the SPLC’s direction.” The SPLC, however, allegedly did not inform its donors that “some of their donated money was being used to fund the leaders and organizers of racist groups at the same time that the SPLC was denouncing the same groups on its website.”
According to the DOJ, between 2014 and 2023, the SPLC allegedly took more than $3 million in donor funds and “secretly funneled” it to people affiliated with “various violent extremist groups.” Among these organizations are the KKK, United Klans of America, National Alliance, and several others.
Referencing the indictment’s findings, the DOJ disclosed that the scheme purportedly sought to “obtain money via donations through materially false representations and omissions about what the donated funds would be used for.” As alleged by the agency, the SPLC “opened bank accounts connected to a series of fictitious entities” as a means of “covertly” paying those involved.
“The covert nature of the accounts allowed the SPLC to disguise the true nature, source, ownership, and control of the fraudulently obtained donated money the SPLC paid the individuals,” the press release reads. “In order to keep the scheme going, the SPLC made a series of false statements related to the operation of the accounts.”
Addressing the indictment, FBI Director Kash Patel — whose agency investigated the case alongside the IRS Criminal Investigation division — classified the SPLC’s alleged actions as “illegal.” He further confirmed that the probe remains “ongoing.”
Patel previously severed the FBI’s ties with the SPLC last year following the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. TPUSA is one of several conservative organizations the SPLC has smeared in recent years.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics and RealClearHealth. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
