MONTGOMERY, Ala.–When there’s news about an indictment, it’s always good to remember that an indictment is not — repeat, is not — a conviction.

To oversimplify the matter, the existence of an indictment merely means that a grand jury has found that the criminal case may proceed.

It doesn’t mean the defendant will be convicted. It doesn’t even mean the allegations in the indictment are true.

Criminal defendants are presumed innocent. Prosecutors must prove each case not by a preponderance of the evidence but beyond a reasonable doubt.

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With that in mind, let’s consider an indictment handed down by a federal grand jury in Montgomery, Ala., on April 21, 2026.

But first let’s suppose that the defendant-organization, instead of being a liberal organization, were a conservative organization.

Let’s call the conservative organization XYZ.

Suppose that XYZ, a non-profit organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, had a separate Section 501(c)(4) advocacy organization.

Suppose that XYZ had for decades professed its dedication to removing racial barriers and bigotry of whatever kind.

Suppose that XYZ, the 501(c)(3) organization, had for decades received tax-deductible contributions to fund its mission.

Yet suppose that unbeknownst to its contributors, XYZ had transferred money to avowed racist organizations to pay for informants within those organizations.

Suppose that XYZ’s paid informants actively promoted the racist organizations while XYZ was publicly denouncing those very organizations.

Suppose that one such informant belonged to an online leadership-chat group that planned the 2017 ‘Unite the Right’ event in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Suppose that this informant made racist postings under XYZ’s supervision and helped coordinate several participants’ transportation to the event.

Suppose further that to facilitate XYZ’s covertly paying its informants, XYZ opened bank accounts for fictitious entities.

Suppose that XYZ did so to conceal the real nature, source, ownership, and control of fraudulently-received contributions.

Suppose that to keep this going, XYZ made false statements regarding the accounts.

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What do you suppose the reaction would be to an indictment alleging that XYZ had done all of these things?

You know the answer, don’t you?

Yet the indictment wasn’t of a conservative organization, much less a longtime conservative organization.

Instead, it was of a liberal organization, and a longtime one at that.

Furthermore, the organization–like many liberal organizations and many high-ranking liberals–has, to understate the point, a well-honed practice of falsely accusing political opponents of racism and other extremism.

The organization and its leaders become like those who proverbially cry “wolf” so much that such accusations lose credibility.

Yet racism does exist. One shame is that false accusations lead to its being taken less seriously.

But there is more: The indicted organization, having raised money to fight racism, in effect stands accused of having fueled racism by sending its contributors’ money to racist organizations and then using the fueled racism to raise more money to fight racism.

If–if–this is true, then how many times does that cycle have to repeat before contributors to the indicted organization who do not support this cycle stop contributing?

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Here’s the first paragraph of the indictment, and you can read the full indictment at https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1437146/dl.

“The Southern Poverty Law Center’s (‘SPLC’) stated mission included the dismantling of white supremacy and confronting hate across the country. However, unbeknownst to donors, some of their donated money was being used to fund the leaders and organizers of racist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation, and the National Alliance. The SPLC’s paid informants (‘field sources’) engaged in the active promotion of racist groups at the same time that the SPLC was denouncing the same groups on its website. The SPLC also had a field source who was a member of the online leadership chat group that planned the 2017 ‘Unite the Right’ event in Charlottesville, Virginia. That field source made racist postings under the supervision of the SPLC and helped coordinate transportation to the event for several attendees. In order to covertly pay its field sources, the SPLC opened bank accounts connected to a series of fictitious entities. The covert nature of the accounts allowed the SPLC to disguise the true nature, source, ownership, and control of the fraudulently obtained donated money the SPLC paid the field sources. In order to keep the scheme going, the SPLC made a series of false statements related to the operation of the accounts.”

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Dr. Randy Elf encourages you to read the 14-page indictment.

COPYRIGHT © 2026 BY RANDY ELF