An Alabama grand jury returned an indictment charging the SPLC with six counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering after the Trump administration claimed the nonprofit told donors their money was used to fight white supremacy, while actually sending some $3 million to people that organized the deadly "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups.
During a press conference to announce the indictment, Blanche alleged the SPLC manufactured the very extremism it claimed to fight by "paying sources to stoke racial hatred."
For instance, the indictment alleges that the SPLC paid $270,000 to a member of the online leadership chat group that planned the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville at which dozens of antiracist protesters were injured and Heather Heyer was killed when a white nationalist participant drove his car into a large group of people.
The informant made racist posts online and attended the event allegedly at the direction of the SPLC, the indictment states.
The SPLC allegedly paid another informant, who was a member of the National Alliance neo-Nazi group, more than $1 million between 2014 and 2023, according to the indictment. The informant stole 25 boxes of documents from the group that the SPLC then used as the basis for an article on its Hatewatch site, prosecutors say.
To funnel the money to these and other informants, the SPLC allegedly created a number of fictitious entities and opened bank accounts under those fake names, the indictment states.
"The SPLC is manufacturing racism to justify its existence," Blanche said in a statement Tuesday. "Using donor money to allegedly profit off Klansmen cannot go unchecked. This Department of Justice will hold the SPLC and every other fraudulent organization operating with the same deceptive playbook accountable. No entity is above the law."
Following the U.S. Department of Justice's press conference, SPLC interim CEO Bryan Fair slammed the indictment in a statement to Law360 on Tuesday.
"We are outraged by the false allegations levied against SPLC — an organization that for 55 years has stood as a beacon of hope fighting white supremacy and various forms of injustice to create a multi-racial democracy where all can live and thrive," Fair said. "Taking on violent hate and extremist groups is among the most dangerous work there is, and we believe it is also among the most important work we do."
"The actions by the DOJ will not shake our resolve to fight for justice and ensure the promise of the Civil Rights movement becomes a reality for all," he added. "SPLC will vigorously defend ourselves, our staff and our work; we will continue to fight hate; and we will continue to envision and create a safer and more just world."
The indictment comes just hours after the SPLC said it was under criminal investigation over its use of paid informants to infiltrate extremist groups, blasting the move as yet another ploy by the Trump administration to target political foes.
Fair said in a short, direct-to-camera video released Tuesday morning that the organization didn't yet know all the details.
He described the investigation as an escalation of the pattern of hostility already shown to the SPLC during the second Trump administration, noting that FBI Director Kash Patel severed ties with the SPLC in October. Then in December, House Republicans "held a hearing to accuse us of being partisan and profitable," he said.
The SPLC is a nonprofit legal advocacy group that frequently litigates cases involving voting rights, prison reform and economic inequality. It's also known for its research into white supremacist and related extremist groups.
In Tuesday's video, Fair said the criminal investigation appears to center on the SPLC's previous use of paid informants to "gather credible intelligence on extremely violent groups."
Fair said that when the SPLC still used those methods, it always immediately turned over any relevant info to the FBI and local authorities.
He also said the use of informants was necessary in the SPLC's early years of the 1970s and 1980s, when the group repeatedly faced violent threats. In 1983, its offices in Montgomery, Alabama, were firebombed.
"There is no question that what we learned from informants saved lives," Fair said.
Fair said the SPLC no longer works with paid informants.
President Donald Trump has been repeatedly accused of using the powers of the federal government to target his political opponents during his second term. The DOJ has gone after law firms that previously opposed Trump, as well as individuals like former FBI Director James Comey, New York Attorney General Letitia James and former national security adviser John Bolton.
The federal government is represented by Kevin P. Davidson of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Alabama.
Counsel information for the SPLC was not immediately available.
The case is U.S. v. Southern Poverty Law Center Inc., case number 2:26-cr-00139, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.
--Editing by Nicole Bleier and Michael Watanabe.
Update: This article has been updated to include details from an Alabama grand jury indictment returned against the SPLC, to add comments from the Justice Department and the SPLC, and to add case and counsel information.
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