The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a prominent civil rights organization, is facing renewed federal scrutiny following charges in April that it defrauded donors by using funds to pay informants within extremist groups. The investigation, which had previously been closed during the Biden administration after an earlier review for potential tax violations under the Trump presidency, was reopened amid new allegations linked to conservative criticism of the group.
Court filings submitted Monday by the SPLC’s legal team reveal that the revived inquiry appears to have been influenced by a September 2025 letter sent to Stephen Miller, a former senior adviser to then-President Donald Trump known for his considerable sway within the Justice Department. The letter was jointly authored by right-wing organizations including Moms for Liberty and Turning Point USA, both of which have been labeled as hate groups by the SPLC. The language in the letter closely resembles wording found in an FBI document from October 2025 outlining the scope of the investigation.
According to the SPLC’s lawyers, the October reopening of the probe—leading to the indictment six months later—was largely a reiteration of the complaints raised in the letter. While FBI documents do not explicitly show Miller’s direct involvement in prompting the Justice Department to reopen the investigation, the lawyers contend that circumstantial evidence suggests his influence. They also note Miller may have had additional motivation, citing a 2019 SPLC report based on his emails that linked him to the promotion of white nationalist and racist immigration materials prior to the 2016 election.
Justice Department officials have denied Miller’s involvement in directing the renewed investigation, stating the letter was provided voluntarily to investigators by the signatories. The White House has not responded to requests for comment.
The investigation initially focused on the SPLC’s “Hate Map,” a tool the organization has used for over two decades to track extremist groups including the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan Nations, as well as more mainstream conservative groups like Turning Point USA. FBI documents allege the map is deployed as a “smear tactic” aimed at groups that simply disagree with the SPLC’s ideology. This characterization mirrors language in the letter to Miller, which accused the SPLC of labeling groups out of political disagreement rather than legitimate concern.
The letter also urged Miller to press Trump to issue an executive order barring federal agencies from using SPLC materials, which did not materialize. However, in October 2025, the FBI director Kash Patel announced the bureau was severing ties with the SPLC, declaring the group had become a “partisan smear machine” targeting “mainstream Americans” unfairly.
Founded in 1971 in Alabama, the SPLC is widely recognized for its work targeting white supremacist organizations. Nevertheless, the conservative groups behind the complaint claim the SPLC has drifted from its founding mission, becoming politically biased and weaponizing its influence.
The SPLC’s lawyers have argued the case amounts to retaliatory prosecution aimed at punishing the group for its First Amendment right to criticize conservative entities. In court filings filed in federal district court in Montgomery, Alabama, they have urged Judge Emily C. Marks to dismiss the indictment on grounds of vindictiveness, asserting that the investigation was renewed only after Trump’s return to office with a pledge to target his political opponents.
Such motions are challenging to win given the legal burden to prove prosecutorial animus, but recent precedent exists, including a case last month in Nashville where a judge dismissed charges citing prosecutorial abuse. The SPLC lawyers have requested that, if the judge finds the prosecution vindictive, the government be ordered to produce communications between Stephen Miller, Justice Department officials, and prosecutors in Alabama regarding the decision to reopen the case.