Story perspectives

SPLC Pleads Not Guilty as DOJ Accuses $4.1 M Funding Extremists

7/8/2026

Summary

Story summary

The Southern Poverty Law Center entered a not-guilty plea to federal fraud charges in Montgomery, Alabama.
A superseding indictment alleges the SPLC spent $4.1 million to pay informants inside extremist groups.
The Justice Department says the SPLC funded extremist groups while claiming to dismantle them.
Attorney Abbe Lowell represents the SPLC, which says its informant program gave intelligence and calls the prosecution vindictive retaliation against President Donald Trump’s perceived political opponents.

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Story summary

The Southern Poverty Law Center entered a not-guilty plea to federal fraud charges in Montgomery, Alabama.
A superseding indictment alleges the SPLC spent $4.1 million to pay informants inside extremist groups.
The Justice Department says the SPLC funded extremist groups while claiming to dismantle them.
Attorney Abbe Lowell represents the SPLC, which says its informant program gave intelligence and calls the prosecution vindictive retaliation against President Donald Trump’s perceived political opponents.