{"id":632162,"date":"2026-07-08T16:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T16:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=632162"},"modified":"2026-07-08T16:05:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T16:05:00","slug":"southern-poverty-law-center-pleads-not-guilty-to-federal-fraud-charges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=632162","title":{"rendered":"Southern Poverty Law Center Pleads Not Guilty To Federal Fraud Charges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Southern Poverty Law Center Pleads Not Guilty To Federal Fraud Charges<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on July 7 entered not guilty pleas again to 11 criminal counts alleging it defrauded donors by sending millions of dollars to informants who infiltrated white supremacist and so-called hate groups that it publicly opposed.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The fresh arraignment of the nonprofit organization under a new superseding indictment took place via videoconference before Montgomery, Alabama-based U.S. Magistrate Judge Kelly F. Pate.<\/p>\n

The charges, announced<\/a> on April 21 by FBI Director Kash Patel and acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche, sparked political backlash amid growing questions about the group, which the federal government had previously used to track extremist groups with its \u201cHate Map\u201d and other online resources.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The original indictment by a federal grand jury charged the SPLC with wire fraud, making false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.<\/p>\n

The group was alleged to have surreptitiously transferred more than $3 million in donated funds to leaders and organizers of racist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation, and the National Alliance, between 2014 and 2023.<\/p>\n

The government said the SPLC sent donations to bank accounts of fake entities that had names such as \u201cRare Books Warehouse\u201d and \u201cTech Writers Group.\u201d The accounts were then used to funnel money to alleged informants in the racist groups that it claimed to strongly oppose.<\/p>\n

One of the informants allegedly helped to organize the \u201cUnite the Right\u201d protest in 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia, that turned deadly.<\/p>\n

SPLC interim president and CEO Bryan Fair appeared in person on May 7 to plead not guilty to the same charges on behalf of the group.<\/strong><\/p>\n

On July 7, an attorney for the organization appeared by videoconference to enter 11 not guilty pleas to the superseding indictment issued last month that added more details and specifics. The new charging document did not add new charges.<\/p>\n

The original indictment alleged $3 million in donor funds was funneled to individuals associated with extremist groups, but the new indictment increases the figure to $4.1 million.<\/p>\n

The new indictment provides additional details such as a claim that funds were used by recipients for buying materials for cross burnings and Ku Klux Klan robes and hoods.<\/p>\n

The SPLC has filed a motion to dismiss the indictment for vindictive prosecution. <\/strong><\/a>The group claims it is being targeted by the Trump administration for political reasons. It is unclear when the court will rule on the motion.<\/p>\n

The SPLC is known for its successful fundraising campaigns. According to its most recent publicly available IRS filing, it had gross receipts in tax year 2023 of $339.3 million and assets of $822.2 million.<\/p>\n

The FBI severed its relationship with the SPLC in October 2025 after conservatives criticized the group for including slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk\u2019s organization on its list of hate groups. The FBI had previously used SPLC intelligence on domestic extremist groups.<\/p>\n

Patel said the organization has turned into a \u201cpartisan smear machine\u201d instead of a civil rights advocate.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir so-called \u2018hate map\u2019 has been used to defame mainstream Americans and even inspired violence,\u201d <\/strong><\/em>he said at the time, without elaborating.<\/p>\n

The SPLC\u2019s Hate Map lists almost 1,400 groups, including Kirk\u2019s Turning Point USA, categorizing it as an \u201cantigovernment\u201d group.<\/p>\n

Critics have long said<\/a> the Montgomery-based SPLC unfairly labels conservatives as racist as a matter of policy, treats opposition to illegal or legal immigration, open borders, and multiculturalism as hate, and political expression of those views as hate speech.<\/p>\n

The Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal organization that defends religious freedom and free speech, says the SPLC \u201cdid good work decades ago fighting segregation in the South,\u201d but has since it has become a \u201cfar-left activist organization that attacks anyone who disagrees with its narrow political agenda.\u201d<\/strong> Targets have included conservative, libertarian, anti-tax, immigration reductionist, and other groups.<\/p>\n

In a statement issued in May, the SPLC called the charges against them \u201cprovably wrong\u201d and \u201cbased on inaccurate facts and a misapplication of law.\u201d The nonprofit said its informant program has been successful at preventing threats and attacks, stopping criminal activity, and gathering information used to dismantle hate groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no question that the information the SPLC shared with law enforcement saved lives,\u201d <\/strong><\/em>the statement reads.<\/p>\n

It also stated that it was no stranger to legal threats and would continue\u00a0its\u00a0mission\u00a0\u201cno matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Epoch Times reached out to the SPLC for comment. No reply was received by publication time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nWed, 07\/08\/2026 – 12:05<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Southern Poverty Law Center Pleads Not Guilty To Federal Fraud Charges Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times, The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on July 7 entered not guilty pleas again to 11 criminal counts alleging it defrauded donors by sending millions of dollars to informants who infiltrated white supremacist and so-called hate… Continue reading Southern Poverty Law Center Pleads Not Guilty To Federal Fraud Charges<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":632163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,22,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-632162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-border-security","category-immigration","category-immigration-reform","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=632162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632162\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/632163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=632162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=632162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=632162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}