Analyst: Southern Poverty Law Center indictment will increase scrutiny of group

(The Center Square) – The Department of Justice's indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center will "increase public scrutiny" of the tax-exempt organization, which has nearly $800 million in assets, a research analyst says. Senior research analyst at American think tank Capital Research Center Robert Stilson told The Center Square that "at a minimum," the Southern Poverty Law Center's indictment will "further increase public scrutiny of a group whose operations were already deeply controversial." "Americans might rightly question whether what the SPLC does is aligned with their own understanding of what charities should be doing with their tax-exempt dollars – and this was true before any of the alleged actions in the indictment came to light," Stilson said. As The Center Square reported Tuesday, the SPLC was indicted by the Department of Justice "on 11 counts of wire and bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering." The DOJ accuses the organization of secretly funding extremist groups in order to manufacture "the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred." "SPLC created bank accounts in the name of at least five completely fictitious organizations that had no bona fide employees or legitimate business purpose," Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said. "The money was passed from SPLC to one sham account, to a second sham account, and then loaded onto prepaid cards to give to the members of the extremist groups. This was designed to shield the source of those funds, and because of this, SPLC is also charged with one count ... of conspiracy to commit money laundering." The DOJ's indictment alleges those groups include the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation, and the National Alliance. "One troubling example, is the SPLC was paying a member of the leadership group that planned the Unite the Right protest in Charlottesville, Virginia, that resulted in the death of one person, and injured dozens more," Blanche said. The indictment alleges that SPLC paid an organizer of the protest about $270,000 over the course of eight years. Although this information was "unbeknownst to donors" previously, the DOJ said, Stilson has noted in the past the bias embedded throughout the SPLC, stating that "its activities are highly controversial and divisive." Stilson added: "For context, it is important to recall just how incredibly wealthy the SPLC is." "Its most recent financials disclosed net assets of over $786 million, with annual revenues that exceed some of the best-known charities in the country," Stilson said. "Despite this, it continues to strenuously solicit money from small-dollar donors on its website," Stilson said. "Those ordinary donors in particular are the ones who should be taking a hard look at the true nature of the group they are supporting." Stilson has written in the past on the "extraordinary" wealth of the SPLC. The SPLC's Form 990 for the fiscal year ending in October 2024 "disclosed an astonishing $786.7 million in net assets" – an amount that is "wealthier than many colleges and universities," Stilson wrote. Additionally, the SPLC's total revenues in 2024 were $129 million, "mostly from contributions and grants," a number that was down from 2023's "record-breaking haul of $169.8 million," Stilson wrote. "To put that number in perspective, the combined 2023 revenue of Alabama's eight regional food banks associated with Feeding America — which collectively serve the entire state — was $183.6 million," Stilson wrote. Stilson conceded that many nonprofits are highly biased, but that "what truly sets the [SPLC] apart is how phenomenally wealthy it has become in doing so." Blanche along with FBI director Kash Patel announced the indictment "from a grand jury in the middle district of Alabama," The Center Square reported.