{"id":235,"date":"2026-05-27T21:06:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T21:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=235"},"modified":"2026-05-27T21:06:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T21:06:20","slug":"southern-poverty-law-center-seeks-to-have-criminal-charges-dismissed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=235","title":{"rendered":"Southern Poverty Law Center seeks to have criminal charges dismissed"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>Attorneys for the Southern Poverty Law Center Tuesday asked a federal court to dismiss criminal charges brought against it by the U.S. Department of Justice, citing statements made by President Donald Trump and other high-ranking officials as evidence of vindictive prosecution.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=233\">NC\u2019s child death rate is rising, with a big jump in teen homicides<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The highlighted comments made by Trump; Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche; FBI Director Kash Patel and other members of the administration that criticized the organization. In one instance, Trump alleged that the indictment \u201chad nothing to do with the SPLC breaking the law; it had everything to do with the SPLC\u2019s perceived political leaning\u201d a couple of days after the news conference.<\/p>\n<p>The motion also cites an April 24 post made by the president on Truth Social, Trump\u2019s social media platform, on April 24 when he stated that the SPLC is \u201cone of the greatest political scams in American History and has been charged with FRAUD.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He then called it a \u201cDemocrat Hoax\u201d alongside Act Blue.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>White nationalist, anti-LGBTQ activity on the rise, annual hate report shows<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"mpGZRJLrE5\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"282\" marginheight=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" scrolling=\"no\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/ncnewsline.com\/2024\/06\/05\/white-nationalist-anti-lgbtq-activity-on-the-rise-annual-hate-report-shows\/embed\/#?secret=rekuvMc9OI#?secret=mpGZRJLrE5\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cWhite nationalist, anti-LGBTQ activity on the rise, annual hate report shows\u201d \u2014 NC Newsline\" width=\"500\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe record and timeline of what the SPLC has done and said carrying out its mission, combined with the President\u2019s criticisms that resulted in the indictment in this case, demonstrate that the SPLC is being punished for repeatedly speaking out against President Trump\u2019s policy choices and for having criticized his political goals and allies,\u201d the SPLC motion states.<\/p>\n<p>A message was sent to the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday seeking comment. DOJ had not filed a response as of early Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>The Department of Justice alleges that a paid informant program used by the civil rights organization to gather intelligence on racist and far-right groups amounted to aid for those organizations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor weeks, we have been\u00a0arguing\u00a0against\u00a0these?false?allegations levied against\u00a0the\u00a0SPLC\u00a0\u2014\u00a0an organization that for 55 years has stood?as a?beacon of hope fighting white supremacy and various forms of injustice to create a\u00a0multiracial\u00a0democracy where we can all live and thrive,\u201d said\u00a0Bryan Fair, interim president and CEO of the SPLC, in a statement. \u201cThe government can\u2019t prosecute the SPLC as payback for its protected speech \u2014 it violates basic constitutional rights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Blanche and Patel announced the indictment at news conference in April. The trial is scheduled for October.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=231\">Former UNC chancellor Guskiewicz named Clemson\u2019s new president<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The request is in addition to two others that SPLC attorneys filed with the court to obtain the transcripts of the testimony at the grand jury proceedings and to prevent the government officials from making statements to the public that they said would endanger the integrity of the case.<\/p>\n<p>To be successful, the SPLC must prove that officials in the U.S. DOJ and the Trump administration showed hostility against it and that animus was the justification for levying the charges.<\/p>\n<p>SPLC also referred to comments made by Blanche at the news conference when he said that the SPLC \u201cpaid sources to stoke racial hatred\u201d and that the group had perpetrated extremism that it supposedly opposed.<\/p>\n<p>The motion also alleged that Blanche then appeared on the Fox News Channel where he made false statements that he was not aware that the SPLC provided information to federal law enforcement officials to assist with their investigation into extremist groups.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCounsel for the SPLC had met with then-Acting U.S. Attorney Kevin Davidson and detailed documents which evidenced the SPLC reporting intelligence from an informant to the DOJ which resulted in criminal charges,\u201d the SPLC motion states.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>This story was originally produced by Alabama Reflector, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes NC Newsline, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/northcarolinamovingjournal.com\/?p=229\">Congressional Black Caucus calls for corporate leaders to speak out for voting rights<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The civil rights organization cited comments from President Donald Trump as evidence of vindictive prosecution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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