Overview
- Attorneys for the Southern Poverty Law Center asked a federal judge Tuesday to require a retraction of what they call false DOJ statements and to release grand jury transcripts, which are typically kept secret.
- U.S. Magistrate Judge Kelly Fitzgerald Pate set a May 5 deadline for the government to answer the motions, marking the next step in the pretrial fight in the Middle District of Alabama.
- The Justice Department said a grand jury indicted the group on 11 counts that include wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering, alleging the SPLC used shell companies to pay people tied to the KKK and other extremist groups.
- The SPLC says it shared informant tips with authorities and cites examples provided to prosecutors, including an indictment of a Vanguard America member and a 2020 arrest of an Atomwaffen Division member in a Las Vegas case.
- House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan asked SPLC interim CEO Bryan Fair to testify on May 20, reflecting a widening political battle as some legal commentators question the indictment’s strength and motives.