Justice Department indicts Southern Poverty Law Center over paid-informant program
The Facts
- The Justice Department announced a federal indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center on Tuesday.
- The indictment includes 11 counts, including wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
- Before the indictment was announced, SPLC said it was under a Justice Department criminal investigation.
- SPLC said the apparent focus of the investigation was its past use of paid confidential informants to infiltrate or gather intelligence on extremist groups.
- Multiple reports said the case was being handled in Alabama, including by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Alabama.
- Justice Department officials alleged that SPLC paid people inside extremist groups as part of its investigative efforts.
- SPLC said it no longer works with paid informants and has denied wrongdoing, saying it will contest the allegations.
- The Southern Poverty Law Center is widely known for tracking and investigating hate groups, including the Ku Klux Klan.
Analytical frames for this storyTap to explore
Context
What is the Justice Department alleging?
Prosecutors say SPLC used donor-funded money to pay informants inside extremist groups and charged the organization with wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering in an 11-count indictment BBC,NPR,CBS News.
What does SPLC say the paid-informant program was for?
SPLC says the paid confidential informants were used to gather credible intelligence on violent extremist groups, and that information from those sources was often shared with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies Guardian,NBC News,Independent.
Why is this organization significant?
The Southern Poverty Law Center is a long-established civil rights nonprofit known for monitoring and investigating hate groups, especially the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist organizations NYT,Yahoo News,CBS News.
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Wire services (7)
Independent coverage (50)
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