The Southern Poverty Law Center pleaded not guilty Thursday to all counts in a federal indictment charging the organization with defrauding donors by surreptitiously paying millions to informants within extremist groups.
Bryan Fair, the SPLC’s interim CEO, denied any wrongdoing at the center’s first court appearance since the release of the explosive April 21 indictment, which charged the left-wing civil-rights group with 11 counts of bank fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Mr. Fair said after the arraignment in federal court in Montgomery, Alabama, that the charges are “provably wrong,” based on “inaccurate facts” and a “misapplication of law.”
“Our 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,” he said in a statement. “There is no question that the information the SPLC shared with law enforcement saved lives.”
The Justice Department said the center funneled more than $3 million to White supremacist groups from 2014 to 2023, using bank accounts with the names of phony businesses without disclosing the payments to the nonprofit organization’s contributors.
Informants receiving payments were affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations, National Alliance, and National Socialist Party of America, also known as the Nazi Party of America.
The SPLC also paid $270,000 to an insider who helped organize and provide transportation for the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, a violent gathering of white supremacists that spurred a fundraising bonanza for the center.
The government alleges that the SPLC defrauded donors by not telling them it was using their money to pay such White supremacists, exactly the types they claim to fight.
The SPLC filed two motions last week accusing acting Attorney General Todd Blanche of making “false statements” by saying the government had “no information” about the center sharing information gathered from informants with law enforcement.
Mr. Fair said last month that the center paid informants to gather “credible intelligence” on extremist groups, while Mr. Blanche accused the group of “manufacturing racism to justify its existence.”
The center asked the court to disclose the transcripts of the grand jury proceedings, citing the “substantial likelihood that the government carried gross misrepresentations.”
In his response, acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama Kevin Davidson said Mr. Blanche told Fox News’ Shannon Bream in an April 26 interview that the SPLC has “selectively shared information with law enforcement, calling it “well-documented.”
“To the extent that any clarification was needed, Acting Attorney General Blanche’s remarks on a major Sunday television program certainly suffice,” Mr. Davidson said in the Tuesday filing.
• This story is based in part on wire service reports.
