SPLC hits back at DOJ indictment, says its informant program put dangerous racists behind bars

Nypost · Apr 28, 2026 · 570 words · By Priscilla DeGregory

Legal conflict between SPLC and DOJ Counter-terrorism and Informants Institutional Credibility

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What to know about Legal conflict between SPLC and DOJ

SPLC hits back at DOJ indictment, says its informant program put dangerous racists behind bars The Southern Poverty Law Center hit back at Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche over the indictment filed against the group last week — saying it has repeatedly…

Claims checked 8

Techniques found 3

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center80%

Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

“The Department of Justice is well aware that the SPLC provided helpful information, through the use of its confidential informants, to law enforcement,” the group’s lawyers wrote in court papers Tuesday.

Common ground

“Department of Justice also knows that these confidential informants helped law enforcement put violent extremists in jail.” Last week, the DOJ announced a criminal indictment against the SPLC, alleging it hid from donors that it paid over $3 million to…

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Name Calling / Labeling, Appeal to Fear: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Legal conflict between SPLC and DOJ story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that the indictment filed against the group last week?
How does this story connect Legal conflict between SPLC and DOJ with Counter-terrorism and Informants over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/04/28/us-news/splc-hits-back-at-doj-indictment-says-its-…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 3 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 80% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

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Name Calling / Labeling 70% confidence

Attaching a negative label to a person or group to reject them without evidence.

Why it matters: Recognizing name calling / labeling helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Appeal to Fear 60% confidence

Building support by instilling anxiety or panic in the audience.

Why it matters: Recognizing appeal to fear helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 8 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 7

info Single Source 1

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Claim 1: “the indictment filed against the group last week”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web search results confirm that the DOJ filed an indictment against the SPLC 'last week'.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The following is a list of U.S.-based organizations that the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) classifies as hate groups. The SPLC is an American nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_organizations_designat…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is k…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Poverty_Law_Center

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is an executive department of the United States federal government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justic…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Ju…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “Blanche went on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” and said the SPLC didn’t share information from its sources with the FBI.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results explicitly state that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appeared on 'The Ingraham Angle' on Fox News and claimed the SPLC did not share informant information with the FBI.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Todd Wallace Blanche (; born August 6, 1974) is an American attorney and former prosecutor who has served as the acting United States attorney general since April 2026. Blanche has also served as the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Blanche

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United States associate attorney general is the third-highest-ranking official in the United States Department of Justice (DOJ). The associate attorney general advises and assists the attorney gen…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Associate_Attorn…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government. The attorney general act…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Attorney_General

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 3: “DOJ charges Southern Poverty Law Center with fraud for paying white supremacist groups $3M to ‘stoke racial hatred’”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the DOJ charged the SPLC with fraud related to the $3 million paid to informants/white supremacist groups.

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web search NEUTRAL — This week the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) charged the SPLC with making some $3 million in payments to white supremacist groups to gin up hate speech it could then claim to be fighting in order to…
https://www.breitbart.com/2020-election/2026/04/24/trump-202…

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web search NEUTRAL — The guilty party, of course, is the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and this isn’t just an accusation anymore—it’s the subject of a federal indictment. President Trump’s Department of Justice has …
https://thepatriotjournal.com/doj-indicts-splc/

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web search NEUTRAL — The DOJ has indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center on 11 fraud counts over secret payments of more than $3 million to extremist informants.The DOJ charged the SPLC with fraud, alleging undisclosed p…
https://crypto.news/doj-charges-splc-with-fraud/

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Claim 4: “That person pleaded guilty and is now in prison.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results specifically identify Conor Climo, a member of Atomwaffen Division in Las Vegas, who pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered firearm/destructive device and is thus incarcerated.

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web search NEUTRAL — The Atomwaffen Division, also known as the National Socialist Resistance Front, was an international far-right extremist and neo-Nazi network. Formed in 2015 and based in the Southern United States, i…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomwaffen_Division

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web search NEUTRAL — Members of the Atomwaffen Division, an international neo-Nazi terrorist network, have been alleged to have been responsible for a number of murders, planned terrorist attacks, as well as other crimina…
https://web.archive.org/web/20250124084835/https://en.wikipe…

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web search NEUTRAL — (Ken Silva, Headline USA) In February 2020, Las Vegas man Conor Climo, a member of the neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division, pled guilty to one count of possession of an unregistered firearm — specifica…
https://headlineusa.com/splc-had-an-informant-involved-in-ne…

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Claim 5: “the group told the DOJ about all the leads it’s given to law enforcement just two weeks prior to the indictment.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources report that the SPLC filed motions stating they provided the government with information demonstrating they shared informant data weeks before the indictment.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The FBI Richmond Catholic memo concerns an internal Federal Bureau of Investigation document from January 2023 that identified “traditionalist Catholics" as potential domestic violent extremists. The …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI_Richmond_Catholic_memo

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Kashyap Pramod "'Kash" Patel (born February 25, 1980) is an American lawyer serving since 2025 as the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Patel also served as acting director of the Burea…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kash_Patel

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 6: “one of the people whom informants helped the DOJ convict was a “member of white supremacist extremist group Atomwaffen Division” and that person “intended to engage in a major terrorist attack against Las Vegas citizens.””

CORROBORATED

Web search results confirm the SPLC claimed that an informant helped convict a member of the Atomwaffen Division who intended to attack Las Vegas.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The Atomwaffen Division (AWD, Atomwaffen meaning "atomic weapons" in German), also known as the National Socialist Resistance Front, was an international far-right extremist and neo-Nazi network.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomwaffen_Division

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web search NEUTRAL — The group said that one of the people whom informants helped the DOJ convict was a “member of white supremacist extremist group Atomwaffen Division” and that person “intended to engage in a major terr…
https://nypost.com/2026/04/28/us-news/splc-hits-back-at-doj-…

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web search NEUTRAL — The Justice Department responds after the SPLC claimed that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche lied about its informant program.
https://www.dailysignal.com/2026/04/28/doj-responds-splc-cla…

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Claim 7: “the information it shared with the FBI has led to two convictions in recent years”

SINGLE SOURCE

The claim that information shared led to two convictions is attributed to the SPLC's own claims in a legal filing; while reported by a news source, it is a claim by the SPLC rather than a verified independent fact of the convictions themselves.

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 8: “the DOJ announced a criminal indictment against the SPLC, alleging it hid from donors that it paid over $3 million to informants — many of them leaders inside hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the DOJ's allegation that the SPLC paid over $3 million to informants in extremist groups and hid this from donors.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Emmett Louis Till (July 25, 1941 – August 28, 1955) was an African-American boy who, at 14 years old, was abducted and lynched in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of offending a white woman, Ca…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Till

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Proud Boys is an American far-right, neo-fascist militant organization that promotes and engages in political violence. The group's leaders have been convicted of violently opposing the federal go…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proud_Boys

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+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.