Attorney General Steve Marshall is expecting "shocking" results from the investigation into the Southern Poverty Law Center's (SPLC) alleged crimes.
A Montgomery grand jury returned a multi-count indictment against the SPLC in April. That was followed by Marshall announcing a civil investigation and the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) filing a superseding indictment. The SPLC faces 11 counts of wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank and money laundering, and is accused of funneling millions to white supremacist groups to help fund such things as robes and cross-burnings.
"It's not that they were trying to stop extremism, they're profiting from it," Marshall said Saturday on Newsmax2's "This Week on Capitol Hill."
"And we have, along with the middle district's indictment of the SPLC that's now pending, you have both Florida and Alabama using again those consumer protection powers we talked about earlier with requests for information to the SPLC to be able to respond. Who are you funding? How much were you funding? What groups were they connected to? And what did you do in leveraging the information that you received as it relates to the fundraising arm of that operation? I think the results we're going to see are shocking. I'm anxious to be able to see what action that we'll be able to take as a result of that information."
Marshall said the House Judiciary Committee hearing held last week was a good "first step" to stopping the SPLC from "suppressing conservative voices."
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"This week's testimony shown a light maybe in ways that many across the country are not aware of, is not only the use of the designation of hate groups to suppress conservative voices, including yours, but also the impact that it's having on many companies across our nation," he said. "I thought the action of the committee this week to be able to bring people together to be able to share that testimony and cause the interim director of the SPLC to be able to have to answer questions was a positive first step."
Moore said the investigation will also look into the companies and businesses the SPLC worked with to determine if any outside groups were also culpable in the alleged fraud.
"I think that's clearly part of what our investigation and Florida's investigation is attempting to find out, is that not only did these efforts in reaching out to hate groups allow them to foster fundraising opportunities, but the designation they had in that list that they provide was also the vehicle for woke corporations and others to try to suppress those positive organizations that were doing good work," he said. "Look, Family Research Council, [Alliance Defending Freedom] and others across the country who are doing good work were very much the target of the SPLC. And why? Because their values and their principles directly contrast with what the SPLC stands for."
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