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In the latest perversion of the mission of the Department of Justice, federal prosecutors are now targeting groups that fight far-right extremists. And they've alleged a truly bizarre legal theory, albeit one that somehow made it past a grand jury in Alabama.
The DoJ, under the direction of Donald Trump's personal attorney Todd Blanche, who is currently playing the role of Acting Attorney General, has brought charges of wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on the basis that the group was collecting donations under false pretenses. The DoJ alleges that, instead of using the funds for its mission of dismantling hate groups, it was secretly funding those groups' work. The indictment further alleges that fictitious entities were set up to pay informants so the payments couldn't be traced back to the SPLC. At the press conference held to announce the indictment, Blanche also claimed that the SPLC paid informants to "manufacture" the violence it told donors it was fighting. But note that the indictment itself doesn't actually say that. Blanche should be careful that he doesn't find himself on the receiving end of a defamation suit with remarks like that.
We've all watched enough episodes of shows like Law & Order to understand that a confidential source can't get paychecks with "FBI" or "SPLC" written on them. That just might give them away. Pat Cotter, a former organized crime prosecutor, pointed out that informants' safety depends on maintaining secrecy as to their funding sources. Calling that protocol fraud "is a unique if not perversely inventive theory of fraud," he said.
What is obviously missing from Blanche's narrative is the FBI's role in the SPLC's work and the Bureau's own time-honored tradition of using informants. As recently as October 2025, the SPLC worked closely with the FBI to root out these extremist groups and investigate threats to prevent violent acts and domestic terrorism. The use of informants is a tool that law enforcement routinely uses to expose organized crime, terrorism plots and other violence. And the FBI has been working with non-profit organizations fighting hate groups for a long time. During the George W. Bush administration, the FBI concluded that far-right extremist groups are the biggest threat for domestic terrorism. (Also, see below.)
Phil Williams, an investigative reporter, has a good theory as to why the SPLC is in this administration's crosshairs. A great many people in this administration have ties to white supremacists and other far-right groups, and the SPLC has uncovered a lot of it. They exposed White House Advisor Stephen Miller's ties to hate groups and his white nationalist ideology, "Border Czar" Tom Homan's involvement with the Proud Boys, and FBI Director Kash Patel's association with white supremacists. And now those people are in a position to use the powerful DoJ to deliver payback.
This is also driven by Republicans' false narrative that far-right groups have been "victims" of a federal government being run by leftist, partisan actors. So, the story goes, people in this administration—like Blanche—are just leveling the playing field. Of course, they can't fathom that the FBI has traditionally been one of the most conservative agencies in the government—and even they concluded that these far-right groups pose a unique threat to the country's safety.
We've written it before, but if there's evidence that these prosecutions are being brought for vindictive reasons or to harass and intimidate civil rights groups, the people responsible can be held accountable. Donald Trump can pardon them for federal crimes but can't protect them from civil suits, state criminal charges, court sanctions or state bar proceedings.
Of course, Blanche isn't thinking long-term right now. He's thinking very, very short-term. As in, "Sometime soon, Trump is going to name a new AG nominee, and I want it to be me!" By the time this case is adjudicated or (more likely) dismissed, Blanche will either be the AG, the former AG, or very disappointed. And whatever the case may be, he won't actually care about the outcome, because the audience of one he's performing for will have moved on to other things. (L)