A grand jury just returned a more detailed superseding indictment alleging the Southern Poverty Law Center has been pouring donor money into the extremist groups it publicly condemns.
The new charges follow an April indictment that alleged the SPLC created fake businesses to launder money to Klan members and neo-Nazis. Federal prosecutors now allege the organization fabricated business records, payroll documents, and checks for companies that never existed.
“My gut tells me that further indictments will be filed as the case progresses, based on previous cases the government has brought.”
William Byrnes, a professor at Texas A&M University School of Law who specializes in anti-money laundering laws, told The Federalist the superseding indictment suggests prosecutors are building toward charges against individual SPLC employees and informants who allegedly created the fake documents.
The new indictment is probably still just the tip of the iceberg, according to The Federalist’s analysis. Federal prosecutors have additional work ahead as they uncover who specifically produced fraudulent payroll records and bank documents.
Meanwhile, the SPLC has assembled a legal army. Since the April 21 indictment, nine defense lawyers from three law firms have filed three separate motions challenging the prosecution on procedural and ethical grounds — but not on the substance of the charges themselves.
The defense filings now stretch to 449 pages of memoranda and exhibits. On Thursday, three more lawyers asked to file an amicus brief on behalf of the Society for the Rule of Law, bringing the total attorney count to twelve.
Federal courts typically set trial dates within 12-18 months of indictment, but complex cases with extensive pre-trial motions can stretch longer. A presidential election looms in two and a half years. If the trial date gets pushed beyond the next inauguration, the SPLC could face a friendlier administration.
Byrnes noted the organization has over $750 million in assets, allowing it to hire the best litigation team money can buy. With that kind of war chest, delay may work as a legal strategy.
But a years-long courtroom battle carries political risk. The allegations — that an anti-hate organization allegedly paid for Klan robes, cross-burning materials, and kept extremists on a shadow payroll — will generate headlines for years.
The SPLC says explicitly in its own defense that it has been paying extremist groups for years to infiltrate and break them up. But as Byrnes asked, toward what end? The organization has no prosecutorial authority, and the Klan and Nazi groups it claims to be dismantling seem to be doing just fine.
The Federalist has repeatedly sent questions to the SPLC’s defense lawyers by email but has never received a response.
The charges remain allegations. The case has not been proven in court.
