Overview
- The Justice Department returned a superseding indictment this week that expands factual allegations against the Southern Poverty Law Center but keeps the original 11 counts and the same defendants.
- Prosecutors say roughly $4.1 million in tax‑exempt donations were routed through shell accounts to paid field sources inside white supremacist and neo‑Nazi groups and were used for recruiting, travel, rallies and materials for cross‑burnings and Klan garments.
- The filing gives specific examples, including two Klan members allegedly paid about $1,200 per month and one source who received more than $1.2 million, and it alleges at least one SPLC employee had a romantic relationship and shared bank accounts with a paid source.
- SPLC has pleaded not guilty, asked the court to dismiss the case, and asked a judge to consider sanctions after saying prosecutors leaked an unsigned draft of the superseding indictment to the media; discovery and procedural fights are ongoing and a tentative October trial date remains.
- Legal experts and filings note the prosecution revised bank‑fraud language after the Supreme Court’s Thompson v. USA decision and say the case will turn on proving donors or banks were actually misled, a standard that could reshape how nonprofits use confidential informants and disclose operations.