Southern Poverty Law Center Asks Judge to Consider Sanctions Against DOJ for Sharing Unsigned Indictment Copy The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed a motion with a federal judge on Wednesday, requesting sanctions against federal prosecutors for allegedly violating grand jury secrecy rules by sharing an unsigned and unstamped copy of a superseding indictment with members of the media. The indictment, which the Justice Department (DOJ) announced on Tuesday, includes new allegations against the SPLC, accusing it of using donations to infiltrate hate groups and allegedly funding activities such as cross burnings and Ku Klux Klan (KKK) paraphernalia. The SPLC’s attorneys argued that the DOJ’s actions constituted a breach of federal procedures, as the unsigned version of the superseding indictment was released to journalists before it was formally docketed in court. They emphasized that the document was not the final, sealed version returned by the grand jury and contained metadata revealing the identities of DOJ attorneys who had edited it. The SPLC claimed the premature disclosure could prejudice its defense by creating a one-sided narrative that the organization could not address without further harm. The superseding indictment, which was publicly filed on Wednesday, retains the same 11 charges as the original April indictment: wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. These charges stem from allegations that the SPLC used donations to fund informants within extremist groups without disclosing the practice to donors or financial institutions. The new allegations, however, expand on this by suggesting the organization may have used funds to support activities associated with hate groups, though no additional defendants were named.#justice_department #cbs_news #southern_poor_law_center #ku_klux_klan #middle_district_of_alabama
