A former Southern Poverty Law Center official was indicted on federal fraud charges Wednesday in connection to the Department of Justice’s criminal case against the civil rights organization.
Heidi Beirich served as the center’s chief financial officer and directed its Intelligence Project, an initiative that tracks political extremism tied to hate groups. That project has long drawn outrage from conservatives who argue it unfairly classifies far-right organizations as hate groups pushing White supremacy.
The DOJ on Wednesday charged Beirich with one count of wire fraud conspiracy, one count of conspiracy to submit false statements to a bank and one count of conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering, according to the superseding indictment. An attorney representing the former SPLC official said the case is “without merit” and that Beirich is “innocent” in a statement Wednesday.
“We believe the charges against her and the SPLC are politically motivated, and Dr. Beirich has been targeted in this case because of the important work she has done to combat hate groups and extremists,” Michael J. Proctor, Beirich’s counsel, told MS NOW, adding that “Dr. Beirich won’t be silenced or intimidated by the government’s false and politicized allegations now.”
The charges make Beirich the newest defendant — and the first named person — in the Trump administration’s ongoing case against the center.
A federal grand jury in Alabama’s Middle District indicted the SPLC in April on fraud and money laundering charges, alleging that it misled donors by paying more than $3 million to informants within the extremist groups it was monitoring. The indictment alleged that those informants furthered the hateful aims of the various groups, including the Ku Klux Klan and Nazi groups.
A grand jury returned a first superseding indictment in June with new facts but no new charges. The SPLC denies any wrongdoing and says it has for years funneled information from its informants to the FBI and the Justice Department.
The Montgomery, Ala.-based civil rights group pleaded not guilty to all charges in a May arraignment in Alabama, and again at a re-arraignment for the superseding indictment last month
FBI Director Kash Patel said Wednesday that Beirich “was at the center of our ongoing investigation into SPLC and their previously alleged criminal activity.” He accused her of orchestrating the alleged fraud and conspiring to defraud SPLC donors.
The indictment also brought new charges and modified those that already existed against the SPLC. The center is now facing a total of 14 charges related to wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to commit false statements to a federally insured bank and money laundering.
Both Beirich and the SPLC are scheduled to be arraigned on the new charges next week.
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