Legal Af
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Trump DOJ Indictment FALLS APART Immediately
Posted
May 10, 2026
Views
12,990
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1,438
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May 10, 2026
12,990
1,438
53
11.48%
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12:13Now PlayingAttorneys Brian Kabateck and Shant Karnikian break down the DOJ's criminal indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center, the 55-year-old civil rights organization that has tracked and exposed hate groups from the KKK to the Aryan Nations since the 1970s. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche accused the SPLC of "manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose" by secretly paying informants inside extremist organizations with donor money. But Brian and Shant explain what was actually happening: the SPLC was doing exactly what the FBI does — paying confidential informants to infiltrate dangerous groups, gathering intelligence that was then shared with law enforcement and the public. The 14-page indictment alleges $3 million in payments over nearly a decade but offers no specific examples of how that money furthered violence. The actual wire fraud charges total just $13,905 on a single day in 2023. Legal experts say the case will struggle to establish mens rea — the intent to defraud donors — and may not survive a selective prosecution challenge. The indictment was revived after the Biden DOJ declined to bring charges, and it arrives after Kash Patel severed the FBI's decades-long partnership with the SPLC last fall. SPLC interim CEO Bryan Fair called the charges "false allegations" and said the informant program "saved lives." Brian connects it to the broader pattern: like suing the Atlantic, investigating reporters, and threatening publications, the goal isn't winning — it's making every civil rights organization in America think twice.
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