Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump said Friday that the results of the 2020 presidential election should be “permanently wiped from the books” if fraud allegations against the Southern Poverty Law Center are proven in court.
In a post on Truth Social, the president criticized the organization following news of a federal indictment alleging that millions of dollars in donor funds were improperly distributed.
“The Southern Poverty Law Center, one of the greatest political scams in American History, has been charged with FRAUD. This is another Democrat Hoax, along with Act Blue, and many others. If it is true, the 2020 Presidential Election should be permanently wiped from the books and be of no further force or effect!” President Trump wrote.
The indictment accuses the organization of funneling roughly $3 million in funds between 2014 and 2023 to individuals linked to extremist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party. Prosecutors allege the payments were made to confidential informants but were not disclosed to donors.
According to court filings, some individuals received significant sums over multiple years, including one person allegedly tied to the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. Another informant is accused of receiving more than $1 million.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the case centers on whether the organization misrepresented its activities.
“It was instead manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred,” Blanche said, adding that the investigation is not politically motivated.
FBI Director Kash Patel also criticized the SPLC in an October post on X.
“The Southern Poverty Law Center long ago abandoned civil rights work and turned into a partisan smear machine. Their so-called ‘hate map’ has been used to defame mainstream Americans and even inspired violence. That disgraceful record makes them unfit for any FBI partnership,” he wrote.
The SPLC has defended its practices, saying it has historically used confidential informants to gather intelligence on violent extremist groups. CEO Bryan Fair argued the organization is being targeted for those past methods. The case against the SPLC is ongoing, and no convictions have been secured.
