The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a prominent nonprofit known for tracking and combating hate groups across the United States, is now at the center of a fierce legal and political battle. On April 28, 2026, the SPLC filed motions in federal court, forcefully denying allegations brought by the U.S. Department of Justice that it secretly funded hate groups through a covert informant program. The organization’s leadership and attorneys argue that not only are the charges unfounded, but that the government’s public statements have misrepresented the SPLC’s decades-long efforts to prevent violence and dismantle extremist organizations.
The controversy erupted last week when a federal grand jury indicted the SPLC on charges of fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors allege that, beginning in 1980, the SPLC established a network of paid informants—sometimes embedded as leaders within hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan, National Alliance, and other white supremacist organizations. According to the indictment, these informants were covertly paid more than $3 million between 2014 and 2023, with funds allegedly sourced from unwitting donors. The government claims that, by funneling money to these informants, the SPLC indirectly supported the very groups it was publicly committed to fighting.
Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche did not mince words during a press conference, accusing the SPLC of “manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred.” Blanche also asserted that law enforcement agencies had been kept in the dark about the informant program. The SPLC, however, has fiercely contested this narrative, labeling the government’s statements as not only inaccurate but deeply damaging to its reputation and mission.
“The information that the SPLC shared with the FBI over the last 40 years saved lives,” said Bryan Fair, interim president and CEO of the SPLC, in a statement released Tuesday. “When we began working with informants, we were living in the shadow of the height of the Civil Rights Movement, which had seen bombings at churches, state-sponsored violence against demonstrators and the murders of activists that went unanswered by the justice system. When threats and other unlawful activity were revealed, the SPLC immediately passed that information to law enforcement officials, local, state and federal, and assisted in efforts to prevent violence and stop criminal activity.”
To bolster its defense, the SPLC’s court filings detail several instances where information from its informant program was shared with law enforcement, directly contributing to the prevention of violence and the prosecution of extremists. One notable example cited by the organization involves the infamous "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. The SPLC asserts that, through its informants, it collected “voluminous and detailed information about the risk of violence, potential perpetrators and even the potential weapons that could be used at the Charlottesville rally.” This intelligence, the SPLC says, was compiled into a 45-page report and sent to multiple law enforcement agencies, including the FBI’s Mobile, Alabama office, ahead of the event.
Another case highlighted by the SPLC involved a planned terrorist attack in Las Vegas in 2019 by a member of the white supremacist group Atomwaffen Division. The SPLC claims its tip led to the FBI’s arrest of the would-be attacker and ultimately resulted in a conviction, stopping the attack before it could occur. The Department of Justice, in a 2020 news release, confirmed that the individual had discussed targeting a synagogue and a bar catering to LGBTQ customers and was sentenced to two years in prison.
Additionally, the SPLC cited a case in which informant intelligence led to the conviction of a man who lied about his ties to a white supremacist group while seeking national security clearance at Philadelphia’s Navy Yard in 2018. The organization says this information, shared with law enforcement, resulted in the individual being sentenced to prison. According to the SPLC, evidence of this cooperation was presented to prosecutors during a meeting on April 6, 2026.
Despite these assertions, federal prosecutors maintain that the SPLC misled donors by not disclosing that their contributions were being used to pay informants who sometimes held leadership roles in the very hate groups the SPLC monitored. The indictment alleges that these covert payments not only benefited the informants but also provided financial support to extremist organizations, all without the knowledge of the SPLC’s supporters.
In its court motions, the SPLC has asked for a full or partial transcript of the grand jury proceedings to determine whether false statements or misinformation were used to secure the indictment. The organization is also seeking to prevent further “prejudicial statements” from government officials, arguing that such comments could taint the jury pool and compromise its right to a fair trial. “We strongly deny the allegations in the indictment and their falsity is already being exposed in our court filings,” Fair stated. “The government is blatantly mischaracterizing our efforts to successfully fight hatred and violent extremism, something we have done for decades. At one moment, they are appreciating our work in destroying the Klan and now, they are saying the SPLC funded and promoted the Klan. The informant program was successful in accomplishing its purposes: Threats and attacks were prevented, criminal activity was stopped, and information was gathered to dismantle the efforts of hate and extremist groups. There is no question that what we learned from informants saved lives.”
The political climate surrounding the case is highly charged. Former President Donald Trump has weighed in, calling the SPLC “one of the greatest political scams in American History” and linking the case to his ongoing claims of political persecution. Critics of the prosecution, meanwhile, argue that the Justice Department is being weaponized to punish organizations that have long opposed conservative causes. Some see the indictment as a politically motivated attack on a group that has played a central role in exposing and countering far-right extremism.
The SPLC’s recent scrutiny intensified after the assassination last year of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA. The SPLC had previously described Kirk’s group as “A Case Study of the Hard Right in 2024” in its annual report on hate and extremism. While the government has not directly linked the assassination to the SPLC’s activities, the timing has fueled further debate about the center’s role and methods.
As the legal battle unfolds, the SPLC remains adamant that its informant program was a vital tool in the fight against hate. “The Department of Justice is well aware that the SPLC provided helpful information, through the use of its confidential informants, to law enforcement,” the group asserted in its filings. “The Department of Justice also knows that these confidential informants helped law enforcement put violent extremists in jail.”
An arraignment hearing for the SPLC is scheduled for May 7, 2026, at the federal courthouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The outcome of this case could have far-reaching implications—not only for the SPLC’s future but for the broader debate over how best to combat violent extremism in America. For now, both sides remain locked in a high-stakes struggle, with the SPLC’s legacy and the government’s credibility hanging in the balance.