SPLC Files Response to DOJ Indictment, Claims Informants Aided Convictions

The Southern Poverty Law Center filed court papers on Tuesday, stating that the Department of Justice is aware the group provided helpful information through its confidential informants to law enforcement. The filing claims these informants helped put violent extremists in jail. This response addresses the DOJ indictment against the SPLC last week.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appeared on Fox News' 'The Ingraham Angle' on the same day as the court papers. Blanche stated there is no information suggesting the money the SPLC paid to informants and members of organizations was shared with law enforcement. The SPLC reached out to the DOJ asking Blanche to correct his statement, but the demand has not been met.

The Southern Poverty Law Center is now asking a judge to force the Department of Justice to make a correction. The group claims the information it shared with the FBI has led to two convictions in recent years. One person convicted with help from SPLC informants was a member of the white supremacist extremist group Atomwaffen Division who intended to engage in a major terrorist attack against Las Vegas citizens.

The indictment against the Atomwaffen Division member detailed how close that individual got to executing a mass terror attack. That person pleaded guilty and is now in prison. The SPLC told the Department of Justice about all the leads it gave to law enforcement two weeks prior to the indictment.

Two weeks before the SPLC was indicted, the group's lawyers provided information to the government demonstrating that the SPLC had shared information from its informants with law enforcement. The Southern Poverty Law Center claims Blanche's statement raises concerns that the grand jury was given incorrect information about the SPLC's intelligence sharing with law enforcement.

The Department of Justice did not immediately return a request for comment on Tuesday morning.

The Southern Poverty Law Center moved to force the disclosure of grand jury materials in the criminal case against the organization. The group cited misleading statements from Trump administration officials in the aftermath of the indictment last week as the reason for seeking disclosure of grand jury materials.

The Southern Poverty Law Center's lawyers wrote in the court papers that the DOJ knows the confidential informants helped law enforcement put violent extremists in jail.

” The SPLC responded to the DOJ indictment by highlighting its role in convicting extremists.