Magistrate Judge Denies SPLC Motion as Moot in Federal Fraud Case

Magistrate Judge Kelly Pate denied the Southern Poverty Law Center's motion as moot on May 6 2026, one day after the government filed its response. Pate ruled that the government isn’t lying and there’s no evidence that they intend to lie so there’s no need to order them not to.

The SPLC had sought the order after filing a 27-page brief on April 28 2026 demanding that courts protect their client against the DOJ’s alleged public lies.

The brief included a table of contents and table of authorities that took up five pages, and the SPLC posted its 27-page brief on its website. SPLC lawyers claimed in the filing that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has falsely claimed that the SPLC never told law enforcement about things learned from its informant program when they actually did.

The lawyers demanded that federal officials be ordered to stop lying in media appearances about their client and asked the court to order the immediate release of grand jury testimony.

U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama to reply to the SPLC’s motion by May 5.

The DOJ response to the SPLC motion was four pages long with headers signatures and proof of service amounting to a single page of text. The DOJ argued that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche did not say what the SPLC claimed and that it doesn’t have anything to do with the charges.

The Federalist reported that the existing charges might be the tip of the iceberg with more charges and defendants expected.

The SPLC is charged with federal crimes for allegedly making false statements to banks and making wire transfers in the names of companies that didn’t exist. On May 7 2026 the SPLC was arraigned and pled not guilty. On May 8 2026 Magistrate Judge Kelly Pate ordered the SPLC’s lawyers to propose a schedule for pre-trial discovery.

SPLC lawyer Abbe Lowell has begun telling the media that he expects to see a superseding indictment in the case expanding the list of charges. The SPLC hired Hunter Biden’s lawyer Abbe Lowell among many others. The Federalist contacted the SPLC’s legal team with questions several times but has never received a response.