SPLC used donor money to pay KKK to stage hate crimes.
WASHINGTON (PNN) - April 21, 2026 - The Department of Justice (DoJ) on Tuesday indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on eleven counts, including wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.
The SPLC was indicted for secretly funneling more than $3 million in funds to members of white supremacist and extremist groups, the DoJ said.
A grand jury in the Middle District of Alabama returned an 11-count indictment against the SPLC.
The case was assigned to Judge Emily Marks, a President Donald J. Trump appointee.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the grand jury indicted the SPLC on six counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel held a press conference to announce the federal charges.
“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.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the SPLC used donor money to pay the leaders of the Ku Klux Klan and other extremist groups to stage hate crimes.
The SPLC created shell companies to conceal their role in funding the extremist groups.
“They used the fraudulently raised money by lying to their donor network - thousands of (Amerikans), to go ahead and actually pay the leadership of these supposed violent extremist groups,” Patel said.
“Furthermore, our investigation revealed that the Southern Poverty Law Center, on top of perpetuating this widespread decade-long multimillion dollar fraud, conducted more criminal activity,” he added.
Last May, the Southern Poverty Law Center labeled TPUSA a “hate group” and put a target on Charlie Kirk’s back.
“The SPLC has added Turning Point to their ridiculous ‘hate group’ list, right next to the KKK and neo-Nazis, a cheap smear from a washed-up organization that’s been fleecing scared grandmas for decades. They somehow still rake in over $100 million a year peddling their ‘hate map.’” Charlie Kirk posted on X, May 25, 2025.