Ex-Southern Poverty Law Center official charged in broader criminal case against group, lawyer says

WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Southern Poverty Law Center official has been charged in the Department of Justice's broader criminal case against the Alabama-based civil rights group, a lawyer for the ex-official said Wednesday.

Heidi Beirich, a political extremism expert who served as the law center’s chief financial officer, was expected to make her initial court appearance in Riverside, California, later in the day.

The group has been a frequent target of attacks by conservative critics who claim the nonprofit is politically biased.

An SPLC spokesperson had no immediate comment.

Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the charge at a new briefing in Washington, but did not name Bierich.

Beirich’s lawyer, Michael Proctor, confirmed that she was charged in the government’s existing case against the SPLC in Montgomery, Alabama.

Court records indicate Beirich is charged with wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to submit false statements to a federally insured bank and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering.

“A free and fair society does not use the justice system to silence its political opponents,” Proctor said.

Beirich led the SPLC’s Intelligence Project, which incurred the anger of conservatives with its annual report on organizations that it classified as hate groups. Critics accused the law center of unfairly tarnishing right-wing groups with the same label that it applied to white supremacists.

Beirich co-founded the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism in 2020 after leaving the SPLC. She has testified before Congress about far-right extremism and is frequently interviewed about the subject by news outlets.

That group did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment Wednesday.