Last month, the Department of Justice indicted the Montgomery, Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on 11 felonies, including charges of wire fraud, false statements, and conspiracy to commit money laundering to fund the racism it claims to fight.
On Monday, three weeks later, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall (R) subpoenaed the SPLC for donor information, fundraising solicitations and other internal documents.
He told Tony Perkins that attorneys general have oversight involving charitable organizations, and in the SPLC's case, which he called a "fundraising operation under the guise of something very different," his office wants to know who they were funding, the purpose of that money, what information they gained, and how they utilized that information to raise money across the country.
"They are paying those organizations that they wanted to be able to identify as hate groups and then fundraising off of that same information," the attorney general summarized. "Clearly there is a conflict there, and that's what we're looking to uncover."
"We think it's relevant to the powers we have to protect consumers from fraud, and we're looking forward to being able to see those documents," Marshall added.
Brad Dacus of the Pacific Justice Institute (PJI) says both law enforcement agencies have strong cases.
"Without a doubt, I think the Department of Justice is going to prevail," he tells AFN. "They've got the goods. They've caught them red-handed."
At issue is the SPLC's so-called "Hate Map" that targets conservative groups for promoting values like marriage and family.
"Pacific Justice Institute for quite some time has been on their hate list, along with others like Dr. James Dobson, Dr. Ben Carson and Turning Point USA," Dacus notes.
The American Family Association, the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates AFN.net, has also been labeled a hate group by the SPLC.
The Hate Map has spawned violent attacks against the groups that are on it, like the gunman who entered the Family Research Council headquarters in Washington, D.C. in 2012 with plans to shoot as many employees as possible.
Dacus says he wants to help expose the evil behind the SPLC. He believes if its characterization of PJI and the other "hate groups" is accurate, then its claims will hold up in an open forum. So he has formally invited the SPLC president, Bryan Fair, to join him for a recorded, on-camera discussion on "Faith & Law," PJI's primary interview program.
"We are openly challenging them in this letter to an open, public debate," Dacus relays. "No editing; it'll be open and raw for everyone to see. We're ready for them, and we hope that they'll take us up."
If not, he says the SPLC can expect PJI to continue to help "expose them for the big bully that they are."
'Teaching Tolerance'
Meanwhile, an education watchdog has published a new exposé detailing how the SPLC has been involved in public education.
Paul Runko, senior director of strategic initiatives and K-12 programs at Defending Education, says on top of everything else, the SPLC has been pushing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in schools.
"The Southern Poverty Law Center became famous a few years ago when they started to put parent groups on the Hate Map … comparing them to groups like the KKK," Runko tells AFN. "They have a curriculum that they deploy for schools called Learning for Justice — it used to be called Teaching Tolerance — and Defending Education found that this curriculum was found in at least 42 states and Washington, D.C."
In light of this exposé, Runko advises moms and dads to be aware of what their children are learning in school, as these programs could exist in any U.S. school district.
"If you come across a worksheet or an assignment in your children's school from the Southern Poverty Law Center or from Learning for Justice, or anything associated with them, it's worth taking a deeper look at that content," he says. "Also, look at some of the social emotional learning programs or even district DEI policies that had been informed by the Southern Poverty Law Center."
If such curriculum is found, he wants parents to let Defending Education know.
"We can look in deeper and help parents figure out what to do next," Runko says.
Defending Education is another "hate group," according to the SPLC, even though the organization promotes an academically excellent, non-political education for all K-12 students.
