The Justice Department arrested Heidi Beirich, former director of intelligence for the Southern Poverty Law Center and a prominent researcher on far-right extremism, on charges including wire fraud, conspiracy to submit false statements to a bank, and money laundering.
A superseding indictment accuses Beirich and the SPLC of directing more than $4 million in donations to individuals associated with violent extremist groups between 2007 and 2023, allegedly using accounts under fictitious company names. Attorney General Todd Blanche said the payments were made “for reasons that were not accurate.”
The SPLC has acknowledged past use of confidential informants to gather intelligence on hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, but says it no longer does so. Beirich’s attorneys have not yet commented publicly on the charges.
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