According to the DOJ, the SPLC solicited donations under the claim that they would work to “dismantle” extremist groups, while secretly using some of those funds to support and sustain individuals inside the very same groups they claimed to be combating. The SPLC will likely claim the money went to informants paid to infiltrate and monitor extremist groups.
“The Southern Poverty Law Center used the money they raised from their donor network to actually pay the leadership of these very groups,” FBI Director Kash Patel said Tuesday. “They used the fraudulently raised money, by lying to their donor network—thousands of Americans—to go ahead and actually pay the leadership of these supposed violent extremist groups.”
Groups cited in the indictment include the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, and the National Socialist Party of America, as well as organizers of the infamous 2017 “Unite The Right” rally in Charlottesville.
“This is a serious and egregious violation by a group that purported to dismantle violent extremist groups, but in turn actually only fueled the hatred,” Patel said. “In at least one of these matters, our investigation revealed that funds were used to facilitate the commission of further state and federal offenses.”
KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: The Southern Poverty Law Center, in a massive, sweeping indictment, has been charged with allegations of fraud and using the banking system to perpetrate that fraud.
I just want to talk about a couple of brief things here.
The Southern Poverty Law Center themselves advertised to raise money to “dismantle violent extremist groups” for a period of at least a decade. They used their donor network to raise money to purportedly “dismantle violent extremist groups.”
However, the SPLC, the Southern Poverty Law Center, used the money they raised from their donor network to actually pay the leadership of these very groups.
I just want to say that again. They used the fraudulently raised money, by lying to their donor network—thousands of Americans—to go ahead and actually pay the leadership of these supposed violent extremist groups.
The groups, as the attorney general laid out, include the Ku Klux Klan, the United Klans of America, Unite the Right, National Alliance, the National Socialist Movement, the Aryan Nation Motorcycle Club, the National Socialist Party of America, and also the American Front.
In at least one of these matters, our investigation revealed that funds were used to facilitate the commission of further state and federal offenses, totaling over $3 million.
Furthermore, our investigation revealed that the Southern Poverty Law Center, on top of perpetuating this widespread, decade-long, multi-million-dollar fraud, conducted more criminal activity. They attempted to hide their criminal activity from our financial banking network.
They set up shell companies and entities around America so that the financial institutions that we rely on as everyday Americans were deceived into believing that money was not coming from the Southern Poverty Law Center in the perpetration of this scheme and fraud, but rather from fictitious entities they stood up to perpetuate this ongoing fraud.
This is a serious and egregious violation by a group that purported to dismantle violent extremist groups, but in turn actually only fueled the hatred.
This is an important case brought by President Trump’s administration. We’re thankful to the president for his leadership and funding of not just the FBI and DOJ, but his commitment to go out there and wipe out fraud and conspiracy and waste and abuse wherever it occurs, including the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Even though this money was made to appear to be coming from legitimate people and legitimate entities, we at the FBI, with our great partners at the Department of Justice and in the state of Alabama, were able to comb through a decade’s worth of material—a scheme that took a decade to build—so that we were able to follow the money, because money never lies, and they got caught.
As the attorney general said, these charges are varying. They are widespread and wide-ranging, and this investigation is very much ongoing.
Today, we’re here to announce the charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center, and this investigation—and the individuals who are responsible—will be brought to justice.
