ALABAMA — A federal grand jury in Alabama indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center on 11 counts of wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The indictment included six counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The Justice Department accused the SPLC of paying members of 21st century extremist groups to stoke racial hatred. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the organization was manufacturing extremism by paying sources to stoke racial hatred rather than dismantling extremist groups. He said the SPLC paid at least $3 million to eight members of extremist groups.

Members of the Ku Klux Klan, United Klans of America, Aryan Nations, and the National Socialist Party of American Nazis received funds from the organization, according to the indictment. Blanche said the SPLC purports to fight white supremacy and racial hatred by reporting on extremist groups and conducting research to inform law enforcement groups with the goal of dismantling extremist groups.

SPLC CEO Bryan Fair said the organization worked with informants during the height of the Civil Rights Movement. The SPLC has acknowledged using informants to infiltrate extremist groups and gathering intelligence on their operations, which it shared with local and federal law enforcement.

"In light of that work, we sought to protect the safety of our staff and the public. We frequently shared what we learned from informants with local and federal law enforcement, including the FBI. We did not, however, share our use of informants broadly with anyone, to protect the identity and safety of the informants and their families," Fair said.

Fair said the Trump administration had launched an investigation into the SPLC that may lead to charges, and that the organization did not know all the details of the investigation. He said the SPLC would vigorously defend itself. "We will not be intimidated into silence or contrition and we will not abandon our mission or the communities it serves," he said.