Attorney General James Uthmeier issued a subpoena to the Southern Poverty Law Center, his office announced Monday, alleging deceptive fundraising.
Uthmeier is requesting documentation that would establish that Floridians donated to the organiation, whether it disclosed its use of informants, and whether it has donated to or paid any groups on its own list of extremists.
Uthmeier’s move follows a federal indictment last month alleging the SPLC misled donors by not disclosing its use of paid informants inside groups it was working against, such as the Ku Klux Klan.
“The SPLC raises millions in charitable donations every year, while allegedly paying members and leaders within the very groups it purports to fight,” Uthmeier said in a news release. “SPLC appears to be running a deceptive organization that pays informants to manufacture racism on its behalf. If these allegations are true, there will be consequences.”
In April, the U.S. Department of Justice secured the grand jury indictment against the SPLC alleging wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering.
SPLC interim CEO Bryan Fair in a statement following the federal indictments told the Alabama Reflector that the organization was “outraged by the false allegations levied against SPLC — an organization that for 55 years has stood as a beacon of hope fighting white supremacy and various forms of injustice to create a multi-racial democracy where we can all live and thrive.”
The federal indictment alleges that between 2014 and 2023, the SPLC paid at least $3 million to eight people, funneling money to violent extremist groups. The indictment claims SPLC recruited and paid informants to gather intel from inside the groups it was working against.
Following the federal indictment, Fair accused President Donald Trump and the DOJ of targeting SPLC for political purposes.
FBI Director Kash Patel said in April that SPLC tried to hide criminal activity from banks.
‘Shell companies’“
They set up shell companies and entities around America so that the financial institutions that we rely on as everyday Americans were deceived in believing that the money was not coming from the Southern Poverty Law Center in perpetuation of this scheme and fraud, but rather fictitious entities they stood up to perpetuate this ongoing fraud,” Patel said.
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, called the federal charges a “paper-thin indictment” and that he’s “confident that this vindictive prosecution will fail.”
The SPLC did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
The attorney general set a deadline of May 25 to comply.
Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.
