- DOJ alleges SPLC used donations to fund extremist informants without disclosure to donors.
- SPLC accused DOJ of "targeting" them as part of retribution campaign against President Trump's political enemies.
- Arguments center on if funds were distributed illegally.
- The case is set to go to trial in October.
The Southern Poverty Law Center pleaded not guilty during an arraignment Tuesday to charges accusing the organization of secretly funding the leaders of extremist groups while insisting its mission was to abolish them.
The Department of Justice said the SPLC defrauded donors by using $4.1 million of donation money to pay extremist leaders acting as informants.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the SPLC is “manufacturing racism to justify its existence,” and “using donor money to allegedly profit off Klansmen.”
The SPLC denied wrongdoing and said the DOJ was “targeting” them as part of a retribution campaign against perceived political enemies of President Donald Trump.
“At it’s heart, this indictment seeks to punish the SPLC for engaging in constitutionally protected speech with which the Administration disagrees,” the organization wrote in a motion to dismiss.
The argument: Not if but how
The case is not over whether money was given to leaders — that fact seems to be established. Accusations center on how that money was given and if its intended location was disclosed to donors.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has long used paid informants to report on hate groups such as the KKK and American Nazi party, a process commonly used by several law enforcement agencies, including the FBI.
Accusations from the DOJ claimed the group handled donor funds “in a clandestine manner” using “various fictitious entities” to “secretly funnel donated money”.
These entities, the DOJ claimed, were not disclosed to donors as required by law.
“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 field sources,” the DOJ said in the indictment, a document that also includes at least eight examples of “secretly paid” informants.
Law center leaders said the program was kept secret to protect informants.
“When we began working with informants, we were living in the shadow of the height of the Civil Rights Movement, which had seen bombings at churches, state-sponsored violence against demonstrators, and the murders of activists that went unanswered by the justice system,” interim CEO and president Bryan Fair said in a statement.
“There is no question that what we learned from informants saved lives,” he added.
The SPLC said the case accusations will not shake its resolve to “fight for justice and ensure the promise of the Civil Rights Movement becomes a reality for all.”
“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,” Fair said in a statement.
The case is scheduled to go to trial in October.