1. America First Legal president Gene Hamilton, a former DOJ official, noted yesterday that it’s unprecedented for a tax-exempt nonprofit to use donor funding to pay “informants” within violent extremist groups “I’ve seen some leftists talking about, seen some chatter on social media and elsewhere saying, ‘Oh this is a commonly used tactic amongst the government for years to infiltrate organizations. That’s one thing if it’s the government — the government can prosecute people.” To which I may add, “Duh.” Moreover, the SPLC’s money was given to leaders of these organizations.
2. Hamilton said it would be as if his own conservative group was secretly giving money to DEI officials to set up more DEI programs while raising money to fight against DEI. He might have also added, “And paying six-figure salaries to our own organization with the funds.”
3. SPLC CEO Bryan Fair yadayada-ed that the organization was being politically targeted that the Trump administration was weaponizing the DOJ. Fair swears the payments were for “confidential informants to gather credible intelligence on extremely violent groups.” Who needs more “credible intelligence ” that the KKK is an extremely violent group? Among the people paid — but not named — in the indictment is an “Imperial Wizard” of The United Klans of America. The SPLC claimed in a 2013 article that group was responsible for the 1963 Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four girls. So it was worth thousands of dollars to check and see if the KKK really, really was violent? How stupid does the SPLC and the Axis think we are?
4. A member the neo-Nazi National Alliance was paid $1 million to assist the SPLC by stealing 25 boxes of documents from the group’s headquarters. Two points: stealing from hate groups is as illegal as stealing from any other group, and second, the recipient was a neo-Nazi fundraiser. And apparently a good one, since he raised a million bucks from an organization that was pretending to oppose his friends.
5. A former chairman of the National Alliance was paid $140,000 from SPLC between 2016 and 2023 while being featured as part of the nonprofit’s “Extremist Files,” the indictment states.
6. The Atlantic, a card-carrying member of the Axis, apparently was tipped off to the impending SPLC indictment so it rushed into print a brutal hit piece on FBI Director Kash Patel last week. Gee, what a coinkydink! This is how desperate progressives are to protect their own. Now Patel is suing the magazine for defamation. Prof. Volokh has the story here.
Ethics Alarms 
As more and more scandals emerge of money (donor or state or federal) going into these pits, I think it becomes increasingly fair to ask if ANY endeavor on the Left isn’t just a fraud channeling money into leftist pockets.
I think the answer to that is, “why, yes, this organization is simply a front to funnel cash into the pockets of the organizers, who probably syphon it off into the hands of political campaigns.” How else do you explain Rep. Omar’s $30 million wealth (well, downgraded to between $18,000 and $96,000.00, on rounding errors, I guess . . . ).
Did you check out the 2015 Form 8879 tax return filed by the organization? Here it is:
https://www.splcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/files/990_103116.pdf
In 2015, SPLC had a net assets of $328,000,000.00. That is a ton of cash.
As for the “paid informants” nonsense, the SPLC has absolutely no law enforcement or prosecutorial powers. None. It can file lawsuits and class action cases against suspected “hate” groups (whatever that means) but it cannot file criminal charges, indict, arrest, criminally try, convict, sentence, and/or incarcerate anyone.
A few years ago I remember everyone weeping in relief when the SPLC got a jury to hold a chapter of the Klan liable for civil damages because some its supposed members did some stupid, awful thing but that seemed to be a phyrric victory, aside from foreclosing on the Klan’s clubhouse. It’s not like it changed the culture. I don’t think the Klan wannabe down the street from me thinks, “well, golly. I guess I can’t racist anymore. I might sued and my neighborhood club house might be sold at foreclosure. Dad gummit. Those were the good ol’ days.”
jvb
“2. Hamilton said it would be as if his own conservative group was secretly giving money to DEI officials to set up more DEI programs while raising money to fight against DEI. He might have also added, “And paying six-figure salaries to our own organization with the funds.”
Indeed, imagine my church using tithes and offerings to pay people to infiltrate Muslim mosques, encourage vandalism and violence in the community and then argue that the increased negative activity is why the church needs more money.