SPLC Charged with Funding Hate Groups

0:00It's April 24th. This is US News Today, US News powered by AI. A federal grand jury in Alabama hit the Southern Poverty Law Center with 11 serious charges, including wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to. Launder money. Prosecutors say the group secretly sent about $3 million from donors to people connected to hate outfits like the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis all between 2014 and 2023. They allegedly hid these payments using fake companies and shady accounting while acting like they were fighting extremism on the front lines. This is one of the biggest federal cases ever against the major civil rights outfit. President Trump jumped on it hard, saying if the claims stick, the 2020 election results should get tossed out completely. Conservatives have called the center partisan for years, targeting right-wing folks while missing real threats. Following Attorney General Todd Blanche laid it out clear, the center wasn't breaking up these groups, but paying insiders to stir up more hate.

1:01Payments sometimes hit hundreds of thousands to one guy, linked to the 2017 Charlottesville Miss. The center denies it all, calling their informants a smart way to spy on dangers, and they're gearing up to battle in court. This could shake up how we trust watchdogs on extremism for good.