Department of Justice goes after prominent civil rights group

This article appeared as part of the Daily Sensemaker newsletter – one story a day to make sense of the world. To receive it in your inbox, featuring content exclusive to the newsletter, sign up for free here.

The US Department of Justice has indicted a major civil rights group on charges of wire and bank fraud as well as conspiracy to commit money laundering. The Southern Poverty Law Center was founded in 1971 to continue the fight for racial justice following the civil rights movement. Their work has involved launching lawsuits against hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. Prosecutors claim that from 2014 to 2023 the SPLC “funnelled” more than $3m to informants in some of these groups without disclosing the practice to donors and banks. The SPLC denies the allegations. Over the past few years the organisation has been in the crosshairs of the Trump administration for its perceived bias against conservative groups and figures. FBI director Kash Patel has called the SPLC a “partisan smear machine”.