FBI official says indictment alleges Southern Poverty Law Center funneled donor funds to extremist groups

An FBI agency official announced at a press briefing that the Department of Justice has filed charges alleging the Southern Poverty Law Center ran a decade-long fundraising fraud that diverted donor money to leaders of extremist groups and concealed transfers through shell companies.

The official said the charges are part of a "massive sweeping indictment," asserting that the SPLC raised funds from its donor network by promising to "dismantle violent extremist groups" but instead "used the money they raise ... to actually pay the leadership of these very groups." The official characterized the alleged scheme as lasting at least a decade and involving "over $3,000,000" in funds used to facilitate state and federal offenses.

According to the official, the organizations named in the announcement include the Ku Klux Klan, United Clans of America, Unite to Right, National Alliance, National Socialist Movement, Aryan Nation Motorcycle Club, National Socialist Party of America and the American Front. The briefing also alleged that the SPLC set up shell companies and fictitious entities to disguise transfers so that financial institutions would not detect the source of the funds.

"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 worth of material," the official said, adding that "money never lies, and they got caught." The official expressed gratitude for support from the Trump administration for funding and leadership of the FBI and DOJ efforts.

The transcript records the announcement and the official's characterization of the evidence but does not include a response from the Southern Poverty Law Center. The charges described in the briefing are allegations; they have not been proven in court. The official said the investigation remains ongoing and that "the individuals who are responsible will be brought to justice."