The U.S. Department of Justice hit the Southern Poverty Law Center with an indictment, charging the Alabama nonprofit with a decade-long scam of fraud and money laundering. From 2014 to 2023, prosecutors say they funneled over $3 million to folks linked to the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups, all hidden through shell companies and secret accounts. This cash was supposedly for infiltration ops, but the group allegedly kept donors in the dark by masking it as legit expenses.
Charges include wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to launder money. FBI Director Cash Patel called it out, saying they used fake setups to bury where the funds really went. Trump jumped in hard from the Oval Office, blasting them for paying millions to the very extremists they're supposed to fight, and even posted on. Truth social, that if it's true, the 2020 election should get erased from history.
The SPLC admits to pass informants, but says they've stopped, claiming it saved lives, and labels the whole thing a partisan hit job. Big donors like George Soros, J.P. Morgan, and folks from Apple and Chick-fil-A have backed them for years, but critics point to a shift after a 2,020 leadership change, where they started tagging conservative groups like Moms for Liberty as hate outfits. Now, House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan bows a congressional deep dive, so this scandal could ripple way beyond the courtroom, shaking up how we trust.
These watchdogs, local news, powered by AI. This is San Antonio News Today. I'm Corey with the story.