Federal prosecutors have made sweeping allegations against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), claiming the organization used donor funds to financially support individuals affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) while publicly describing itself as an organization dedicated to combating hate groups.
According to a superseding federal indictment returned by a grand jury in Alabama, two individuals identified in court filings as F-31 and F-32 allegedly contacted the SPLC in 2010 seeking help leaving the KKK.
Prosecutors allege that instead of assisting them in exiting the organization, an SPLC employee encouraged them to remain involved and entered into a financial arrangement that included monthly payments and expense reimbursements.
Court filings allege those payments were used to cover expenses tied to Klan-related activity, including wood, fuel, and other materials associated with cross-burning events.
Prosecutors further contend that donor funds were also used to reimburse costs linked to the production of Klan garments and activities connected to recruiting new members into extremist organizations, according to American Faith.
Taken together, prosecutors describe an alleged informant structure in which individuals embedded inside extremist groups were financially supported over multiple years.
Authorities allege this arrangement allowed those individuals to remain active within extremist organizations while continuing to provide information to the SPLC under what the indictment characterizes as a concealed operational system.
The superseding indictment also alleges that the SPLC routed payments through intermediary entities, including businesses such as Rare Books Warehouse, which prosecutors describe as having been used to obscure the origin of donor funds.
According to court filings, recipients were allegedly instructed to characterize their income as coming from research or writing work if questioned, a description prosecutors say was false and intended to conceal the financial structure behind the payments, The Signal reported.
Beyond the KKK-related allegations, the indictment references additional individuals tied to white nationalist and extremist movements.
One individual identified as F-30 is described in court documents as having leadership roles in multiple extremist organizations, including groups associated with the Aryan Nations and the National Socialist movement.
Prosecutors allege this individual also received financial support while continuing to participate in extremist rallies and recruitment activities.
Authorities further allege that the broader informant system operated in a way that allowed participants to remain embedded in extremist circles while being compensated through SPLC-linked funding channels.
Prosecutors contend this structure blurred the line between monitoring extremist activity and financially sustaining individuals involved in those same movements.
The SPLC has pleaded not guilty and denies wrongdoing.
Attorney Abbe Lowell, representing the organization, said the allegations misrepresent its operations and defended its informant program as a lawful tool used to prevent violence and gather intelligence on extremist groups.
“The SPLC did not lie to its donors, it did not mislead banks it did business with, and its informant program prevented violence and saved lives,” Lowell told Fox News Digital in a statement.
He also criticized federal officials over the handling of the indictment and the release of court documents.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has taken a sharply different stance, alleging the organization used donor funds in a manner inconsistent with its public mission. “To that end, [SPLC] was doing the exact opposite of what it told its donors it was doing – not dismantling extremism but funding it,” Blanche said.
The SPLC faces 11 federal charges, including wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
A hearing in the case is scheduled for June 16 as both sides prepare for further proceedings.
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