A court filing by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) alleges that an FBI incident report detailing a federal fraud investigation into the civil rights organization incorporated language directly from a letter penned by conservative groups to White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. The SPLC is seeking to dismiss federal fraud charges brought against it by the Trump Justice Department in April 2026.
The charges stemmed from allegations that the SPLC had improperly raised millions of dollars by claiming to use funds to compensate leaders of hate groups for inside information. The SPLC acknowledged maintaining an informant program to gather intelligence on right-wing extremist groups to monitor threats of violence but denied the fraud allegations.
Report's Content Echoes Conservative Groups' Letter
An FBI incident report, presented as evidence of the SPLC's alleged wrongdoing, cited the organization's "Hate Map"—which identifies the locations of extremist groups across the U.S. According to the Monday court filing, the report stated: "[T]he SPLC labels conservative values and faith-based organizations like Liberty Counsel, Moms for Liberty, Family Research Council, Alliance Defending Freedom, Focus on the Family, and Turning Point USA as hate groups on the hate map."
The SPLC obtained the FBI report through the court's discovery process and discovered that its wording mirrored a letter previously sent to Miller by several of these same organizations. The SPLC filing noted that the month before the FBI initiated its investigation into whether the "Hate Map" constituted a "scheme to defraud," groups including Moms for Liberty, Alliance Defending Freedom, Turning Point USA, and Liberty Counsel had sent a joint letter to Miller. The SPLC highlighted six instances where the FBI's Incident Summary closely tracked, sometimes word-for-word, the arguments and language from the conservative groups' letter.
"The Justice Department’s justification for opening a ‘Full’ investigation into the SPLC in October 2025 — that led to the indictment in April 2026 — appears to be a rehashing of a letter sent by conservative groups to Stephen Miller complaining about being designated as hate groups by the SPLC," the SPLC argued in its filing.
Justice Department Responds
The Justice Department acknowledged using the letter in its investigation but denied that Miller had directed the inquiry. A DOJ spokesperson stated, "Stephen Miller had nothing to do with FBI-Mobile’s investigation of the SPLC. The referenced letter was provided by one of the signatory groups in the initial stages of an investigation of potential criminal law violations committed by the SPLC. The Department of Justice will continue to follow the facts to ensure the SPLC is held accountable for their fraudulent actions."