DOJ indicts three SPLC senior staff under mail and wire fraud statutes, alleging improper use of donor funds

The Department of Justice indicted three senior staff members at the Southern Poverty Law Center under federal mail fraud and wire fraud statutes, alleging they had misrepresented SPLC's financial practices to donors. SPLC described the prosecution as politically motivated, noting the indictment came 18 months after the Trump administration had publicly labeled SPLC a "radical left" organization and targeted it in executive communications. Defense attorneys immediately announced they would raise selective prosecution claims.