Alabama AG Investigates SPLC for Deceptive Practices Amid KKK Funding Scandal
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall is demanding the Southern Poverty Law Center hand over donor information, fundraising solicitations, and other internal documents after a federal grand jury indicted the SPLC for allegedly funding members of the very hate groups the SPLC claims it exists to "dismantle."
Marshall's office issued a formal subpoena to the Montgomery-based nonprofit on Monday, launching an investigation under Alabama's law against deceptive trade practices.
"We have always suspected that they were monetizing hate and trading on race-baiting, it was just a matter of proving it," Marshall said in a statement on the subpoena. "Thanks to the U.S. Justice Department's action to deal with the SPLC, the state's efforts have now received a shot in the arm. We look forward to learning more about the inner workings of an organization that we have long believed was rotten, but until recently, has been impervious."
Marshall's subpoena cites Alabama Code § 8-19-9, which states that the attorney general or district attorneys may subpoena anyone to appear and produce relevant documents in a deceptive trade practices investigation.