SPLC charged with federal fraud

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has announced an indictment against the Southern Poverty Law Center, accusing the civil rights group of manufacturing racism to justify its existence.

Federal prosecutors allege the SPLC secretly paid millions of dollars to leaders of hate groups, including a former Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard, to act as informants.

The organization, which holds nearly $800 million in assets, maintains that the charges are a 'Department of Vengeance' tactic aimed at silencing its advocacy.

Critics and supporters alike are debating the implications of the case for the future of civil rights monitoring in the United States.