Tag Archives: Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC)

Re-examining The 501(c)(3) Status

Posted on by

I belong to a number of organizations that have 501(c)(3) status. These organizations are very careful to support issues–not political parties and not candidates. As individual members, we are free to support whatever party or individual we choose, but as an organization we focus on providing information and education on issues. Donating to a political party or a candidate is not permissible for a 501(c)(3).  Not all 501(c)(3) organization are willing to stay within those boundaries.

On Friday, Townhall posted an article about some increase scrutiny into some 501(c)(3) who have not necessarily been willing to follow the rules.

The article reports:

According to the New York Post, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the IRS are preparing to review the tax-exempt status of several prominent progressive organizations, including George Soros’ Open Society Foundations, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The reviews could lead to the revocation of their 501(c)(3) status and face substantial back-tax payments, civil penalties, and potentially the standard 21 percent federal corporate tax rate moving forward.

The article notes:

As for the three major nonprofits reportedly in Treasury’s sights, Open Society Foundations has faced allegations that its money has reached groups tied to violent protests and Antifa-aligned activism. CAIR has long faced more serious questions as the FBI suspended formal outreach to the organization after citing evidence of a relationship with Hamas, while critics have accused the group of operating as a terrorist-aligned organization. The SPLC, meanwhile, was federally indicted just months ago on allegations that it secretly funneled more than $3 million in donor money to people associated with the KKK, neo-Nazi organizations, and other violent extremist groups. Prosecutors say some of that money ultimately supported criminal conduct.

Whether any of that will meet the legal threshold for revocation is ultimately for the IRS to determine. But the Treasury appears ready to find out whether these organizations are charitable institutions or simply left-wing political machines.

…”Where the evidence leads, we will not hesitate to follow,” he (Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent) added. “And of course, we will hold these organizations, officers, directors, accountable. And just as financial institutions must know their clients, they must know their grantees. That work is well underway.”

Stay tuned.

Accountability

Posted on by

On Wednesday, The Conservative Treehouse posted an article about the Southern Poverty Law Center. The organization has been charged with money laundering.

The article reports:

SPLC Chief Financial Officer Heidi Beirich was previously identified as one of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) leaders who assisted in “opening bank accounts” with “fictitious companies’ names” to make payments to hate group leaders.  Apparently, she was in a romantic relationship with a Nazi whom she funded.

According to CNN: Beirich has been charged as part of a superseding indictment with wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to submit false statements to a federally insured bank and conspiracy to conceal money laundering.

Obviously, the CNN reporting of the story has a slightly different slant than The Conservative Treehouse story.

CNN reports:

The SPLC has fought the case, arguing that the government is mischaracterizing a long-standing informant program designed to gather intelligence on hate groups, and accused the Justice Department of charging them for political reasons. Attorneys for the SPLC have also said that law enforcement officials have used information gathered by the organization’s informants in the past.

The charges are part of the Justice Department’s case against the SPLC over the alleged payments, which prosecutors say were done through shell companies. In earlier court documents, the department gave details on nine unnamed informants it says received payments through the program, which began in the 1980s.

Despite her role in overseeing the payments — some of which were directed to an Imperial Wizard in the KKK — Beirich allegedly had a romantic relationship with one source who infiltrated a White Supremacy group and stole documents for the SPLC, according to the indictment.

…The documents that person allegedly stole were used as part of an article that the SPLC later published. Beirich then allegedly paid a second informant $6,000 to take the fall for the stolen documents.

“Dr. Beirich is innocent, and this case is without merit,” her attorney, Michael J. Proctor said in a statement. “We believe the charges against her and the SPLC are politically motivated, and Dr. Beirich has been targeted in this case because of the important work she has done to combat hate groups and extremists.”

When you can’t defend yourself with facts, you simply claim that the charges are politically motivated. That is straight out of the Clinton handbook on how to handle scandals!

Ending Partisan Partnerships

Posted on by

On Monday, American Greatness reported that FBI Director Kash Patel has ended the partnership between the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This is good news. The ADL is not a neutral player.

The article reports:

FBI Director Kash Patel has formally cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) that were enacted under former director James Comey, saying, “The FBI won’t partner with political fronts masquerading as watchdogs.”

Patel accused Comey of writing “love letters” to the ADL and of embedding FBI agents within the group that has recently been under fire from Republican lawmakers for listing Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA (TPUSA) organization as an extremist group.

The ADL had described TPUSA as being tied to, “a range of right-wing extremists and has generated support from anti-Muslim bigots, alt-lite activists and some corners of the white supremacist alt-right.”

The article notes:

The FBI also announced that it is cutting its ties with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) over the organization’s history of labeling conservative groups and individuals as extremists.

America First Legal, a conservative nonprofit law firm, has documented the close coordination between the SPLC and the former Biden Justice Department, including training and data access.

Both the ADL and SPLC are accused of flagging political targets for the Biden DOJ  and contributing to the weaponization of government against parents who spoke out against school boards or activists who peacefully protested near abortion clinics.

The FBI has been arresting criminals (as they are supposed to do) since President Trump took office. As of March, the FBI had arrested three people on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List. During 2024, the Biden administration arrested none of the Ten Most Wanted. Obviously, the focus of the FBI needed to change, and it has.

Common Sense Invades The Federal Bureau Of Investigation (FBI)

Posted on by

On October 3rd, The Daily Signal reported that the FBI has severed all ties to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The SPLC kept a hate map of groups it considered hate groups. Oddly enough, a lot of the groups on that map were simply family-oriented or conservative political groups. One of those groups, a Christian nonprofit called the Family Research Council was attacked by a gunman in its headquarters in August 15, 2012, after he saw the group on the SPLC’s hate map. The FRC was placed on the hate map because it did not support the homosexual agenda. The attack was thwarted by FRC building manager Leo Johnson, who was shot in the arm, but survived.

The article at The Daily Signal reports:

The FBI has confirmed that it severed all ties to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a far-left activist group that puts conservatives and Christians on a “hate map” along with Ku Klux Klan chapters. The “hate map” has inspired at least one terrorist attack against a conservative organization.

“The Southern Poverty Law Center long ago abandoned civil rights work and turned into a partisan smear machine,” FBI Director Kash Patel told The Daily Signal in a statement Friday. “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,” Patel added.

The article notes:

The man who opened fire at a Republican practice session for the Congressional Baseball Game in 2017, nearly killing then-House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, had “liked” the SPLC on Facebook. The SPLC condemned that attack, as well.

The SPLC added Turning Point USA to the “hate map” mere months before an assassin with a transgender boyfriend allegedly murdered Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.

The SPLC condemned the attack, but has not removed Turning Point USA from the “hate map.”

A bureau official told The Daily Signal that the FBI was aware that the “hate map” included Turning Point USA before the shooting.

The article concludes:

Big Tech companies like Amazon have used the “hate map” to screen recipients for its former AmazonSmile program, where customers could designate a portion of their purchases go to support certain charities and other nonprofits. Companies like Eventbrite, PayPal, and Hyatt Hotels have relied on the SPLC’s “hate” accusations to decide who they will allow to use their platforms and facilities. Donor networks worth billions have pledged to keep charitable funds from going to SPLC-labeled “hate groups.”

The SPLC enjoys this impact despite multiple scandals. The center fired its co-founder and saw its president resign in a 2019 racial discrimination and sexual harassment scandal. Amid that scandal, SPLC staff created a union that is part of a union organization that represents the radical anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace. And amid a round of layoffs last year, the SPLC Union accused the center of engaging in “union-busting.”

Despite its penurious name, the SPLC has an endowment of more than $700 million, compensates its leaders handsomely, and possesses more than $30 million in offshore accounts, according to IRS filings.

Finally, the SPLC has troubling ties to Antifa, the loosely-organized movement of far-left agitators that President Donald Trump recently declared a domestic terrorist group.

It is good news that the government will no longer work with the SPLC to target innocent Americans and groups of Americans.