A new court filing says language in an FBI incident report used to support federal fraud charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center was lifted in part from a joint letter sent by right-wing groups to Stephen Miller. The SPLC argues the Justice Department’
For the Southern Poverty Law Center, the fight now isn’t just about whether it committed fraud. It’s about how the evidence was built.
In a Monday court filing. the civil rights group says an FBI incident report used as part of the case against it pulled language from a letter that far-right groups sent to White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. The allegation goes to the heart of a federal indictment that landed in April 2026.
The dispute traces back to the Trump Justice Department’s decision in April to bring federal fraud charges against the SPLC. Prosecutors accused the organization of improperly raising millions of dollars to pay leaders of the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups for inside information.
The SPLC has acknowledged that it runs an informant program designed to collect intelligence on right-wing extremist groups and monitor threats of violence. It has also called the fraud allegations false and is seeking to dismiss the charges.
At the center of the Monday filing is what the SPLC says the government cited as proof: an FBI incident report that pointed to the SPLC’s “Hate Map,” a tool that tracks where extremist groups operate in the U.S.
The incident report, as quoted in the court filing, describes the Hate Map’s labeling practices. It says the SPLC labels conservative values and faith-based organizations—including Liberty Counsel. Moms for Liberty. Family Research Council. Alliance Defending Freedom. Focus on the Family. and Turning Point USA—as hate groups on the Hate Map.
The SPLC says it discovered the report’s deeper problem through discovery. In the materials it obtained, the organization claims the FBI incident summary “parroted” a letter that some of those same “faith-based organizations” sent to Miller.
The SPLC filing says that. the month before the FBI opened an investigation into whether the Hate Map was a “scheme to defraud. ” several of the “victim” groups—Moms for Liberty. Alliance Defending Freedom. Turning Point USA. and Liberty Counsel—sent a joint letter to Stephen Miller. The filing adds that the “Incident Summary and Miller Letter closely track each other, sometimes word-for-word.”.
The court filing then argues the match isn’t limited to general claims. It alleges the FBI took language directly from the right-wing groups’ letter, and cites six examples of the FBI report copying language and arguments from the letter.
For the SPLC, the significance is timing. The filing claims the Justice Department’s explanation for opening a “Full” investigation into the SPLC in October 2025—an investigation that ended with the April 2026 indictment—“appears to be a rehashing of a letter sent by conservative groups to Stephen Miller complaining about being designated as hate groups by the SPLC.”.
The argument doesn’t stop at what was allegedly copied. The SPLC adds a further claim about influence: the group says the documents the government has provided so far do not show whether Miller directed the Justice Department to convert or open the investigation. but that “the facts suggest that may be the case.”.
The Justice Department disputes that implication. In a statement provided through a DOJ spokesperson, the department acknowledged that it used the letter in its investigation, but denied that Miller directed the FBI to investigate.
“Stephen Miller had nothing to do with FBI-Mobile’s investigation of the SPLC,” the spokesperson said. The statement also says the referenced letter was provided by one of the signatory groups in the initial stages of an investigation into potential criminal law violations committed by the SPLC. The DOJ added that it would “continue to follow the facts to ensure the SPLC is held accountable for their fraudulent actions.”.
Taken together. the SPLC’s filing puts a spotlight on a question that has become unusually concrete: not just who was accused. but how the government’s case narrative was assembled—down to whether an FBI incident summary echoed a letter sent to a senior White House aide. In a prosecution that turns on alleged fraud and the use of informants. the dispute over copied language is now part of the legal battlefield.
Southern Poverty Law Center SPLC FBI incident report Stephen Miller Hate Map federal fraud charges Ku Klux Klan hate groups Moms for Liberty Alliance Defending Freedom Turning Point USA Liberty Counsel