DOJ Indicts SPLC on 11 Counts of Wire Fraud, Money Laundering

The Justice Department announced fraud charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center on April 21, 2026, accusing the organization of defrauding donors through payments to informants in white supremacist groups. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche alleged at an April 21, 2026, news conference that the Southern Poverty Law Center defrauded donors by using their money to pay informants within white supremacist groups.

Blanche said at the news conference, 'The SPLC was not dismantling these groups.

A 14-page indictment contains evidence presented publicly against the Southern Poverty Law Center. The grand jury indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center on 11 counts. DOJ spokesperson Natalie Baldassarre said the grand jury heard only a portion of the evidence and the government remains confident in its case.

Most of the criminal counts against the SPLC involve alleged wire fraud. The wire fraud counts accuse SPLC of seeking donations to dismantle violent extremist groups without telling donors that more than $3 million over nine years would be used to pay high-level leaders of such groups to be informants.

The indictment says donors were not told that some donations were used to benefit violent extremist groups and were used in committing state and federal crimes, such as an informant stealing and copying documents from a neo-Nazi group.

The indictment charges the SPLC with conspiring to conceal money laundering through transferring donated funds to bank accounts in the names of fictitious entities such as 'Fox Photography' and 'Tech Writers' and masking direct payments to informants with similar monikers.

The indictment includes false statement charges alleging the SPLC had an employee claim sole ownership of fictitiously named bank accounts used to pay informants. The Southern Poverty Law Center is a decades-old Alabama nonprofit dedicated to dismantling white supremacy.

SPLC interim president and CEO Bryan Fair said the organization began working with informants to uncover evidence of racist violence such as bombings of Black churches. Fair said the SPLC shared information with the FBI over the last 40 years that saved lives. Amy Markopoulos is a former federal prosecutor who spent years in the DOJ's fraud section.

Stacey Young was a senior attorney in the civil and civil rights divisions of the Department of Justice for over 18 years. Young now runs Justice Connection. Kyle Freeny is a former DOJ prosecutor who focused on money laundering and asset recovery.

Brian Morris is a former federal prosecutor in New York who focused on fraud and money laundering. S. Chad Mizelle served as the DOJ's Trump-appointed chief of staff from January to October 2025.

Allen Mendenhall is an Alabama-based lawyer and research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation. Stefan Cassella is a former federal prosecutor who focused on asset forfeiture and money laundering. House Democrats Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, and Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pennsylvania, wrote a joint April 30, 2026 letter to DOJ officials seeking documents on the prosecution.

Comey's lawyer reportedly made comments in court on April 29, 2026 that Comey plans to raise a vindictive prosecution challenge. A federal judge said on October 3, 2025 that there is a realistic likelihood of vindictiveness in Kilmar Abrego Garcia's case.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Fox News' The Ingraham Angle show that the investigation into the SPLC was opened during the Biden administration and then mysteriously closed.

Blanche said the investigation into the SPLC started again last year. Billionaire Elon Musk spent hundreds of millions of dollars helping Trump get elected. Musk posted on X on October 2, 2025, 'The SPLC is an evil organization that spreads hate propaganda relentlessly.

The SPLC is asking for the transcript of the grand jury proceedings that led to the indictment. A previous indictment against Comey was dismissed after a judge concluded the prosecutor who secured the indictment was unlawfully appointed. Another judge expressed concerns about whether the grand jury that indicted Comey was given accurate information and wrote that two statements to the jurors appear to be fundamental misstatements of the law.

The judge decided Comey should have access to the grand jury materials because potential irregularities could justify dismissing the case.