Because they can

Trump’s DOJ comes for SPLC. Here’s what you need to know.

This week, the Trump Regime came for the Southern Poverty Law Center. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, flanked by FBI head Kash Patel, gleefully announced the charges during a press conference. The charges are ridiculous and frankly nonsensical. SPLC is accused of defrauding its donors because of its use of paid informants as part of a broader strategy to infiltrate hate groups.

Since SPLC has both shared information with law enforcement agencies in the past, and touted this work to donors, press, and in their own publications, I’m not sure how Blanche and the DOJ think they’ll be able to prove fraud.

Or maybe they don’t care. Because the harassment from the State is the point. Neoreactionary MAGA influencer, Curtis Yarvin, gave the game away when he tweeted about the charges:

“What’s cool is that I don’t really see a strong legal case that the SPLC shouldn’t be able to run these kinds of wacky black ops. That means DOJ is prosecuting the SPLC just because it (kind of) can. If so this would be an unusual sign of “finally getting it.””

To put it another way, the DOJ is prosecuting SPLC just because it can. Because Trump and the MAGA Right want to punish their opponents, especially an opponent with a track record as successful as SPLC’s. The DOJ claims that SPLC’s actions actually further empowered hate groups, but that claim is ridiculous. As Chris Geidner details in Law Dork SPLC’s lengthy history of fighting hate groups, starting with how the organization bankrupted the KKK 40 years ago, having used the same evidence-gathering techniques speaks for itself.

Geidner also uses quotes from a Klan newsletter from that time, decrying SPLC’s tactics, another data point that everyone -- including the hate groups they targeted -- knew that SPLC infiltrated their groups and paid informants as part of that work. The KKK knew even then that SPLC was out to destroy them.

Bryan Fair, SPLC’s Interim President and CEO, said in a video message about the indictment, “they have made no secret of who they want to protect, and who they want to destroy,” but I think it goes further than simply protecting hate groups. The Trump Regime is morphing the Federal Government apparatus into a mega hate group. Every action and policy, from ICE abductions to Hegseth’s purging people of color and women in military leadership, to the ever-growing list of civil rights rollbacks across government agencies, and even the destruction of USAID by DOGE. The Trump Regime is using every lever it can pull to enshrine and enforce white supremacy over America.

I was glad to see SPLC come out swinging right before the charges were announced, allowing them to frame the debate somewhat. I hope that posture continues. Certainly, SPLC has the resources to fight back forcefully. It should use every lever and resource available

SPLC is an organization I like a lot, and I’ve enjoyed strong professional relationships with folks who work there, as well as folks who cut their teeth at SPLC, over the course of writing this newsletter. I’m an activist, not an investigative reporter, and SPLC is an organization whose work I’ve often cited as I help readers understand the MAGA Right. I’ve also learned a great deal from their researchers and investigators, folks who have always been generous with their time and patient with my questions. I want to be clear that I stand in absolute solidarity with SPLC in this moment and encourage others to do the same.

I also won’t pretend SPLC is perfect. In 2019, the organization fired founder Morris Dees for decades-long abuses of power, including sexual harassment. And former staffer Michael Edison Hayden recently wrote an article detailing a toxic work culture, including union busting, and a loss of organizational courage that led to his departure.

SPLC also largely scaled back the Intelligence Project, probably to avoid the exact scenario they now find themselves in. As they’ve pointed out in their own press around the charges, SPLC no longer works with paid informants, and that part of the organization has been shut down.

Again, I support SPLC against this abuse of power from the Trump Regime. But there’s a lesson here that institutions have to absorb. Obeying in advance and capitulating under threat won’t save you. So many institutions of all stripes have done a version of what SPLC did when it ended its work with paid informants. It didn’t stop the Trump Regime from coming for SPLC, and it won’t stop the Regime from coming for all of us in the future. But this stance weakened individual institutions and has made it more difficult to collectively resist the Trump Regime.

Cowardice is contagious, but so is courage. I understand how steep the cost of standing up to the Trump Regime can be, and the reality that many organizations won’t have the resources to survive that fight. I also think it can be a fine line between protecting the institution and waving the white flag, so I have empathy for staff and boards tasked with making these calls. But as Curtis Yarvine made plain, Trump and MAGA will keep abusing their power to target organizations doing good and vital work. Because they can.

Meanwhile, it’s worth remembering that those who have taken Trump on in court and other arenas come out the victor most of the time. We also got a huge win in Virginia this week, with voters passing a redistricting bill and winning a national gerrymandering fight that Trump started.

What’s happening to SPLC will happen to other organizations and individuals. Pam Bondi was fired and replaced with Todd Blanche because Trump believed she wasn’t targeting his political enemies quickly or aggressively enough. Blanche is auditioning to make his acting appointment permanent, and I expect him to follow up with more investigations and ridiculous charges.

Our call to action is clear. Choose courage and solidarity over fear and capitulation. It’s the only way to win.

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