SPLC indicted for fraud

The indictment claims the SPLC paid leaders of the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups with donor money.

The DOJ alleges the non-profit used these payments to 'manufacture racism' and justify its continued existence.

SPLC leadership has dismissed the charges as a politically motivated attack intended to silence a prominent civil rights watchdog.

The legal action has sparked intense debate over the organization's transparency and its role in identifying hate groups.