2 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 26
Tuesday’s filing in federal court in Montgomery, Alabama asks a judge to throw out charges accusing the Southern Poverty Law Center of defrauding donors.
SPLC lawyers said a fraud inquiry over payments to secret informants inside extremist networks had largely lain dormant since Trump’s first term and was revived only after his return to office.
The motion argues the indictment was a “foregone conclusion” driven by White House and FBI leadership in a broader retribution campaign against people and groups seen as Trump’s political enemies.
Vindictive-prosecution claims are hard to win, but the filing comes amid similar defense challenges to Trump-era Justice Department cases and follows a Nashville judge’s dismissal last week of a human-smuggling indictment as an abuse of prosecuting power.
How can courts distinguish between a legitimate fraud prosecution and a politically motivated 'retributive campaign'?
When does a nonprofit's payment to informants cross the line from intelligence work to donor fraud?