The Southern Poverty Law Center wants a federal court to potentially sanction the Department of Justice for allegedly sharing a draft version of an indictment in its informant’s case with the media before it was properly filed in court.
On Tuesday, the DOJ filed a superseding indictment in an Alabama court against the nonprofit in its case, alleging the civil rights group committed fraud relating to its paid informant program.
However, the SPLC alleges members of the media got a draft version of the indictment before it was signed, stamped, or publicly docketed in court records.
The group alleges the move showed how the DOJ was “putting media strategy before the sacrosanct rules on grand jury secrecy.”
“In decades of collective practice, including serving as prosecutors at DOJ, none of the SPLC’s counsel has ever seen anything remotely like what DOJ did,” the group argued in a filing on Wednesday.
In the document, the SPLC recounts getting a message from a confused journalist who got an early copy of the indictment, which the SPLC alleges differs from the final version that was filed in court on Tuesday.
“It’s a little confusing, I now realize we were sent this hours ago from DOJ but there is no stamp on it and its not posted on the docket yet,” the reporter wrote.
The Independent has contacted the DOJ for comment.
The SPLC has requested a hearing on the matter, where a judge could decide on sanctions against the government.
The group was first indicted in April, on allegations it misled donors and conspired to carry out money laundering to support a program that paid informants inside extremist groups for information.
Last month, the SPLC moved to dismiss the suit, arguing it is part of a “vindictive” revenge campaign from the Trump administration over the organization’s past claims about MAGA figures’ ties to extremism and hate groups.
The new indictment does not add any new charges against the group, which the DOJ alleges funneled about $4 million to members of organizations, including the KKK and Aryan Nations, between 2010 and 2023.
The DOJ claims the money was used to help the SPLC’s inside sources recruit new members, purchase materials for cross burnings, and host extremist rallies.
The SPLC insists the suit is meritless.
“The SPLC did not lie to its donors, it did not mislead banks it did business with, and its informant program prevented violence and saved lives,” attorney Abbe Lowell told Bloomberg Law this week.
