SPLC indictment builds momentum for Bessent's Treasury to probe partisan nonprofits
The Treasury Department is tightening Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax-exempt reporting requirements in an effort to uncover nonprofit funding being used for "extremist activity" and "hiding fraud."The move comes days...
By Fox News · Fox News
The Treasury Department is tightening Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax-exempt reporting requirements in an effort to uncover nonprofit funding being used for " extremist activity " and "hiding fraud." The move comes days after the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a nonprofit known for civil rights litigation and racial justice, was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly funneling millions to members of violent extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations and the National Socialist Party of America (American Nazi Party). "Public money and tax-exempt status demand public accountability," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent wrote in a statement. "We are ending the days of hiding fraud, abuse and extremist activity behind complicated nonprofit arrangements. "When bad actors misuse charitable structures, directors and officers should understand that transparency can lead to scrutiny, accountability and liability under the law." PHILANTHROPY GROUP RIPPED FOR BANKROLLING 'RADICAL' DEFUND THE POLICE, ANTI-ICE GROUPS: 'LESS SAFE' The indictment against the SPLC was announced Tuesday, with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche saying the nonprofit "was doing the exact opposite of what it told its donors it was doing — not dismantling extremism but funding it," at a subsequent news conference. According to the SPLC’s Form 990 filing with the IRS, the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization posted roughly $129 million in total revenue in fiscal year 2024 with nearly $800 million in total assets. The organization pushed back against the federal indictments, claiming the money given to extremist groups was spent "to gather credible intelligence" by using paid informants who operate within groups like the KKK. PATEL, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST RIP SPLC AFTER DOJ ALLEGES GROUP FUNDED THE 'VILLAINS' THEY CLAIMED TO FIGHT "The federal government has been weaponized to dismantle the rights of our nation's most vulnerable people," SPLC interim president and CEO Bryan…