Marshall announces state civil investigation into Southern Poverty Law Center

Photo from the Office of Attorney General Steve Marshall

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WAKA) – Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has announced a civil investigation into the Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center.

Marshall says the investigation is into whether the SPLC used deceptive fundraising practices under Alabama’s consumer protection laws. A subpoena orders the SPLC to produce requested documents by June 1.

As Action 8 News has reported, the SPLC already faces a federal indictment on fraud and money laundering.  Prosecutors said the group misled donors by using their money to pay informants who served as leaders in the very hate groups the organization was founded to fight.

Prosecutors say the SPLC funneled more than $3 million in donated money to informants who were leaders in the KKK, the neo-Nazi National Alliance and other hate groups. The center is charged with defrauding donors and making false statements to create bank accounts that were used to relay money to informants.

The SPLC has told a federal court that law enforcement agencies have long known that it paid informants to report on the movements of hate groups and denies any wrongdoing.

This new action by the State of Alabama will seek to determine whether the SPLC’s activity within the state also ran afoul of the State’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act or state laws related to charitable organizations, both of which are enforced by the Attorney General’s Office.

“My Office has been fighting the SPLC for years—whether fighting them to protect minors from transgender medical procedures, fighting them to keep bad guys behind bars, or fighting them to preserve Alabama’s Republican congressional districts,” Attorney General Marshall said. “We have always suspected that they were monetizing hate and trading on race-baiting, it was just a matter of proving it. Thanks to the U.S. Justice Department’s action to deal with the SPLC, the State’s efforts have now received a shot in the arm. We look forward to learning more about the inner workings of an organization that we have long believed was rotten, but until recently, has been impervious.”

Because the SPLC is headquartered in Montgomery, the Alabama Attorney General’s Office says it is entitled to information regarding the organization’s dealings with donors and informants, even those outside Alabama.

READ: Attorney General Steve Marshall’s subpoena of the SPLC

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