SPLC Superseding Indictment Says They Bought Robes for Racists
On June 2, 2026, a grand jury in the Middle District of Alabama returned a superseding indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center. It keeps the original 11 counts — wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering — but adds detail: $4.1 million in tax-exempt funds allegedly paid to informants inside extremist groups between 2014 and 2023, with money allegedly used to recruit new members and buy materials for cross burnings and Klan robes. One informant, identified as F-37, was allegedly paid more than $270,000 between 2015 and 2023; the indictment alleges F-37 sat in the online leadership chat that planned the 2017 “Unite the Right” event and attended “at the direction of the SPLC.”
Paying informants inside extremist groups is ordinary intelligence practice — and the case does not charge it. The allegation is narrower: that the SPLC concealed the payments from donors and used shell accounts to defraud its banks, and that some spending went not to protect a source but to grow the groups themselves. The defense has moved to dismiss the case for vindictive prosecution. The question to watch is whether prosecutors can hold the line between funding an informant and funding an organization — and whether 11 fraud counts stay fraud, or expand.
Eric Garland is an intelligence analyst personally sanctioned by the Russian Federation in May 2022 for his work on Russian intelligence operations. He is the author of the 2016 “Game Theory” thread, named by The New York Times as one of the 25 most important tweets in history.
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SOURCES
United States v. Southern Poverty Law Center, M.D. Ala. — superseding indictment, returned June 2, 2026
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs — statement, June 2, 2026
CBS News — “Justice Dept. obtains superseding indictment against Southern Poverty Law Center,” June 2, 2026
Fox News — “DOJ expands indictment against SPLC,” June 2, 2026
