In a massive announcement on Tuesday evening, the Department of Justice announced an 11-count indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), accusing the non-profit of funneling money to hate groups.
The DOJ indictment includes six counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. In a press conference with the media, interim Attorney General Todd Blanche alleged the organization over $3 million across eight years to various groups, including the Ku Klux Klan and the National Socialist Party of America.
The SPLC is known for investigating and going after hate groups, like the ones mentioned. There were also accusations of money being sent to an Aryan Nations-affiliated motorcycle club and other extremist groups. One group it says in the indictment was given money, despite being on the SPLC "Extremist List" website.
Blanche said during a press conference that the SPLC wasn't working to dismantle the groups, but "was instead manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred."
The SPLC said on Tuesday that they knew they were under a probe but believed it pertained to their use of paid informants in gathering intelligence on extremist groups.
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