Civil rights group says federal charges are political
4/23/202617 min
The Justice Department has charged the Southern Poverty Law Center, a prominent civil rights organization, with several financial crimes. We discuss what the group is accused of and why it became a target of the Trump administration.
This episode: senior political correspondent Tamara Keith, domestic extremism correspondent Odette Yousef, and justice correspondent Ryan Lucas.
This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye.
Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi.
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First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
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Tamara Keith· Host0:20
[upbeat music] Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Tamara Keith, I cover politics.
Odette Yousef· Co-host0:27
And I'm Odette Yousef, I cover domestic extremism.
Ryan Lucas· Co-host0:29
And I'm Ryan Lucas, I cover the Justice Department.
Tamara Keith· Host0:31
Today on the show, the Southern Poverty Law Center is facing federal charges for financial crimes. The prominent civil rights group has been tracking and disrupting hate groups for decades, but now the Justice Department alleges one of the ways it did that was criminal. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the charges this week.
Todd Blanche· Soundbite0:52
The SPLC is a non-profit entity that purports to fight white supremacy and racial hatred by reporting on extremist groups and conducting research to inform law enforcement groups with the goal of dismantling these groups. As the indictment describes, the SPLC was not dismantling these groups. It was instead manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred.
Tamara Keith· Host1:23
So we will get to the details of this 11-count indictment, but first, Odette, tell us about the SPLC's