In reality, SPLC pays informants to gather intel on hate groups, which it then shares with law enforcement, in order to undermine those groups. It obscures the payments to protect its sources. The DOJ this week dropped a friendly message to every extremist group in America that they might have moles to smoke out. <\/p>\n
Among the SPLC\u2019s \u201ccrimes\u201d is a form of bank fraud. But it\u2019s not the standard bank fraud statute, because bank fraud requires showing a scheme to actually defraud a financial institution of money or property, which becomes a non-starter when the \u201cfraud\u201d is \u201copening a checking account under a shell company name so the Klan doesn\u2019t murder your source.\u201d So, the government turned to the little used bank deception statute \u2014 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 1014<\/a> \u2014 that criminalizes knowingly making false statements for the purpose of influencing a bank\u2019s action on an application, loan, or agreement. This is the basis of four counts in the 11-count indictment.<\/p>\n And the DOJ forgot one of the elements.<\/p>\n As Bloomberg Law News<\/a> points out:<\/p>\n Although the indictment states that SPLC \u201cknowingly\u201d made false statements in bank applications, there\u2019s no specific mention of what action by the bank the statements sought to influence. Including such intent should\u2019ve been \u201cprosecution 101,\u201d said Scott Armstrong, a former supervisor in DOJ\u2019s criminal fraud section.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Amateur hour.<\/p>\n \u201cTo have a complete absence of the required intent \u2014 in four counts \u2014 is a major, major omission that I think will be troubling to the court and really open the door to whether in fact the grand jury was instructed properly,\u201d Scott Armstrong, a former supervisor in the DOJ criminal fraud section, told Bloomberg Law. He called it \u201cprosecution 101,\u201d which is a misnomer because remembering every element is a lesson that law schools should instill long before someone starts prosecutor boot camp. <\/p>\n The indictment also repeatedly characterizes the statements at issue as \u201cfalse or misleading.\u201d Apparently, the DOJ is missing a pocket part, because last year\u2019s Supreme Court decision in Thompson v. United States<\/em> held that \u00a7 1014 does not reach merely misleading statements.<\/p>\n REPORTER: I just want to make sure I understand. You’re alleging that the Southern Poverty Law Center was paying the leaders of KKK and other groups?<\/p>\n BLANCHE: I’m not alleging it. The grand jury returned an indictment that says that pic.twitter.com\/RwiQLpxCYR<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 21, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n This is bullshit, because that\u2019s not how grand juries work. Federal grand juries aren\u2019t making up crimes to pursue. The Department of Justice makes allegations and the grand jury accepts or rejects them. Blanche was quite literally \u201calleging it.\u201d But if this indictment skipped elements and gave the grand jury incorrect instructions, maybe his misunderstanding of grand juries runs even deeper.<\/p>\n The government can, they say, indict a ham sandwich, but this<\/em> DOJ has struggled to clear<\/a> even the notoriously low bar<\/a> presented by a grand jury. <\/p>\n The DOJ can fix this with a superseding indictment. You know, after they aren\u2019t feeling rushed to change the topic from the fact that reports of Patel\u2019s drinking habits caught him like a cross-eyed deer in headlights. But it\u2019s still embarrassing.<\/p>\n And, of course, the Trump administration doesn\u2019t necessarily care about winning this case. It already got most of what it came for once the administration\u2019s fellow traveler hate groups knew they had moles and the SPLC lost its ability to pay or even recruit future informants. None of that requires a conviction, or even making it to trial. The damage was done at the press conference.<\/p>\n DOJ Omits Crucial Element in Southern Poverty Law Center Charges<\/a> [Bloomberg Law News]<\/p>\n Earlier<\/strong>: Trump DOJ Indicts Civil Rights Group For Working To Take Down Hate Groups<\/a> The post Justice Department\u2019s SPLC Indictment Just Got Dumber, Which Seemed Impossible<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a lot of nuance to the practice of criminal law, but all those fuzzy, creative, ingenious aspects rest atop a straightforward foundation. A lot goes down over the course of a prosecution, but from jump, the government takes the elements of a crime and engages in some plug-and-play, inserting factual allegations into those elements. <\/p>\n And this Department of Justice can\u2019t even get that right.<\/p>\n Earlier this week, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced that DOJ secured an indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center<\/a> that was not at all<\/em> hurriedly rushed out the door to distract from FBI Director Kash Patel\u2019s new \u201cJ. Edgar Boozer\u201d nickname<\/a>. The half-baked theory behind the case is that the group\u2019s payments to confidential informants within hate groups amounted to a vast conspiracy to manufacture hate crimes to justify the SPLC\u2019s own existence. That sounds too ridiculous to believe, but it\u2019s reached what you\u2019d call shibboleth status over on Elon Musk\u2019s X. Or you would call it that, except they also hate Jews over there<\/a>. <\/p>\n In reality, SPLC pays informants to gather intel on hate groups, which it then shares with law enforcement, in order to undermine those groups. It obscures the payments to protect its sources. The DOJ this week dropped a friendly message to every extremist group in America that they might have moles to smoke out. <\/p>\n Among the SPLC\u2019s \u201ccrimes\u201d is a form of bank fraud. But it\u2019s not the standard bank fraud statute, because bank fraud requires showing a scheme to actually defraud a financial institution of money or property, which becomes a non-starter when the \u201cfraud\u201d is \u201copening a checking account under a shell company name so the Klan doesn\u2019t murder your source.\u201d So, the government turned to the little used bank deception statute \u2014 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 1014<\/a> \u2014 that criminalizes knowingly making false statements for the purpose of influencing a bank\u2019s action on an application, loan, or agreement. This is the basis of four counts in the 11-count indictment.<\/p>\n And the DOJ forgot one of the elements.<\/p>\n As Bloomberg Law News<\/a> points out:<\/p>\n Although the indictment states that SPLC \u201cknowingly\u201d made false statements in bank applications, there\u2019s no specific mention of what action by the bank the statements sought to influence. Including such intent should\u2019ve been \u201cprosecution 101,\u201d said Scott Armstrong, a former supervisor in DOJ\u2019s criminal fraud section.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Amateur hour.<\/p>\n \u201cTo have a complete absence of the required intent \u2014 in four counts \u2014 is a major, major omission that I think will be troubling to the court and really open the door to whether in fact the grand jury was instructed properly,\u201d Scott Armstrong, a former supervisor in the DOJ criminal fraud section, told Bloomberg Law. He called it \u201cprosecution 101,\u201d which is a misnomer because remembering every element is a lesson that law schools should instill long before someone starts prosecutor boot camp. <\/p>\n The indictment also repeatedly characterizes the statements at issue as \u201cfalse or misleading.\u201d Apparently, the DOJ is missing a pocket part, because last year\u2019s Supreme Court decision in Thompson v. United States<\/em> held that \u00a7 1014 does not reach merely misleading statements.<\/p>\n REPORTER: I just want to make sure I understand. You’re alleging that the Southern Poverty Law Center was paying the leaders of KKK and other groups?<\/p>\n BLANCHE: I’m not alleging it. The grand jury returned an indictment that says that pic.twitter.com\/RwiQLpxCYR<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 21, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n This is bullshit, because that\u2019s not how grand juries work. Federal grand juries aren\u2019t making up crimes to pursue. The Department of Justice makes allegations and the grand jury accepts or rejects them. Blanche was quite literally \u201calleging it.\u201d But if this indictment skipped elements and gave the grand jury incorrect instructions, maybe his misunderstanding of grand juries runs even deeper.<\/p>\n The government can, they say, indict a ham sandwich, but this<\/em> DOJ has struggled to clear<\/a> even the notoriously low bar<\/a> presented by a grand jury. <\/p>\n The DOJ can fix this with a superseding indictment. You know, after they aren\u2019t feeling rushed to change the topic from the fact that reports of Patel\u2019s drinking habits caught him like a cross-eyed deer in headlights. But it\u2019s still embarrassing.<\/p>\n And, of course, the Trump administration doesn\u2019t necessarily care about winning this case. It already got most of what it came for once the administration\u2019s fellow traveler hate groups knew they had moles and the SPLC lost its ability to pay or even recruit future informants. None of that requires a conviction, or even making it to trial. The damage was done at the press conference.<\/p>\n DOJ Omits Crucial Element in Southern Poverty Law Center Charges<\/a> [Bloomberg Law News]<\/p>\n Earlier<\/strong>: Trump DOJ Indicts Civil Rights Group For Working To Take Down Hate Groups<\/a> The post Justice Department\u2019s SPLC Indictment Just Got Dumber, Which Seemed Impossible<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There\u2019s a lot of nuance to the practice of criminal law, but all those fuzzy, creative, ingenious aspects rest atop a straightforward foundation. A lot goes down over the course of a prosecution, but from jump, the government takes the elements of a crime and engages in some plug-and-play, inserting factual allegations into those elements. 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Kash Patel\u2019s $250 Million Defamation Lawsuit Looks Better With Beer Goggles<\/a><\/p>\n
\n![\"Headshot\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/11\/Headshot-300x200.jpg?resize=192%2C128&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n
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Kash Patel\u2019s $250 Million Defamation Lawsuit Looks Better With Beer Goggles<\/a><\/p>\n
\nJoe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n