Lawyers for the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) argued Tuesday that a Justice Department indictment against the nonprofit is part of a "top-down" campaign of retribution against perceived political enemies of President Donald Trump, urging a judge to dismiss the case as a vindictive prosecution.
The Alabama-based nonprofit was indicted in April on fraud and money laundering charges for allegedly misleading donors by paying informants inside white supremacist and other extremist organizations to obtain inside information about their activities.
In a motion to dismiss, SPLC attorneys expanded on earlier arguments, saying the prosecution was the "culmination of a top-down, retributive campaign" in which Trump pushed the Justice Department to target groups he deemed political enemies, including the SPLC.
Defense Cites Broader Retaliation Campaign
The motion was filed against the backdrop of other politically charged prosecutions, drawing a parallel to the human smuggling case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, which was dismissed on similar grounds. The SPLC has said its informant program was designed to protect potential victims from hate groups. An earlier federal investigation closed without charges, but the current Justice Department pursued the case with renewed vigor.
The defense motion states that the department decided to indict without interviewing any current SPLC employees and did not seek documents until after telling defense lawyers that charges were forthcoming. During a meeting requested by defense lawyers, Justice Department officials said the decision to charge had already been made.
"These procedural irregularities show that the charges against the SPLC were a foregone conclusion based on prosecutorial vindictiveness — driven by the White House and FBI leadership’s retribution campaign — rather than the result of a good faith examination of the evidence," the motion states, calling the indictment "premised on conclusory accusations but devoid of provable facts."
The motion also cites whistleblower accounts accusing top Justice Department officials of rushing the indictment despite internal concerns about the merits of the case.
"For weeks, we have been arguing against these false allegations levied against the SPLC — an organization that for 55 years has stood as a beacon of hope fighting white supremacy and various forms of injustice," said Bryan Fair, interim president and CEO of SPLC. "The government can’t prosecute the SPLC as payback for its protected speech — it violates basic constitutional rights."
Administration Paints SPLC as Partisan
Founded in 1971 as a civil rights organization, the SPLC has used litigation to fight white supremacist groups and tracks domestic extremists. Its work has made it a target among Republicans who view it as overly leftist. The center received attention last year after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk because it had included Turning Point USA in a report titled "The Year in Hate and Extremism 2024."
FBI Director Kash Patel announced in October that the bureau would sever ties with the SPLC, calling it a "partisan smear machine" and accusing it of defaming "mainstream Americans" with its "hate map."
The defense motion says "animus" from senior administration levels shaped the indictment, citing Trump's statement that the SPLC is "a total scam run by the Democrats" and Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department's top civil rights official, who said the indictment was "personal" to her because of journalist friends targeted by the SPLC.
