DOJ charges SPLC over alleged payments to hate group informants

8 hate group leaders — including KKK Imperial Wizard and neo-Nazi — got millions from SPLC as part of ‘informant’ scheme, DOJ says. Read today's cover here: https://t.co/prMEVqze9l pic.twitter.com/H5OTbfj0Up

— New York Post (@nypost) April 23, 2026

The U.S. Department of Justice has charged the Southern Poverty Law Center with fraud, alleging it secretly paid millions to hate group members as informants, claims the organisation denies.

The U.S. Department of Justice has charged the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) with wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering conspiracy, alleging it paid over $3 million to members of extremist groups as informants. Authorities said the payments, made between 2014 and 2023, were not disclosed to donors.

According to the indictment, informants included leaders linked to groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi organisations. A source said SPLC “secretly paid” individuals to infiltrate extremist networks, while critics likened the practice to “paying an arsonist to help put out a fire.”

SPLC CEO Bryan Fair denied wrongdoing, stating the payments were for “confidential informants to gather credible intelligence on extremely violent groups.” Critics, however, described the allegations as “shameful and outrageous,” while the organisation claimed it was being politically targeted.

READ MORE AT NY POST.