Todd Blanche (00:15):
Good afternoon. Today, a few minutes ago, in the Middle District of Alabama, a grand jury returned an 11 count indictment charging the Southern Poverty Law Center with six counts of wire fraud, four counts of bank fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. According to the charges in the indictment, the SPLC is a nonprofit entity that 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 these groups. As the indictment describes, the SPLC was not dismantling these groups.
(01:00)
It was instead manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred. The indictment describes this conduct in detail, but one troubling example is that the SPLC was paying a member of the leadership group that planned the Unite the Right Protest in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017 that resulted in the death of one person and injured dozens more. This particular person being paid by the SPLC allegedly received approximately $270,000 over the course of eight years. In total, according to the indictment, between 2014 and 2023, SPLC paid at least $3 million to eight individuals at least.
(01:56)
These individuals were affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan, United Klans of America, National Socialist Movement, Aryan Nations Affiliated Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club, the Nationalist Socialist Party of America, Nazis, and the American Front. Now, as the indictment lays out, after SPLC paid members of these extremist groups, it created work product that reported on these activities that the members participated in or contributed to. And to that end, it was doing the exact opposite of what it's told its donors it was doing, not dismantling extremism, but funding it.
(02:39)
To carry out this scheme, SPLC created bank accounts in the name of at least five completely fictitious organizations that had no bonafide employees or legitimate business purpose. The money was passed from SPLC to one sham account to a second sham account and then loaded onto prepaid cards to give to the members of the extremist groups. This was designed to shield the source of those funds and because of this, SPLC is also charged with one count, as I said earlier, of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
(03:15)
In conclusion, I want to thank the acting US Attorney in the Middle District of Alabama, Kevin Davidson, who's in his district right now and not able to be with us for bringing this important case along with the FBI team in Alabama for their hard work during this investigation. This investigation is ongoing, and I'd like to ask Director Patel to say a few words as well.
Patel (03:44):
Thank you, General Blanche. What we're here today is to announce what the general just told you. The Southern Poverty Law Center in a massive sweeping indictment has been charged with allegations of fraud and using the banking system to perpetrate that fraud. I just want to talk about a couple brief things here. The Southern Poverty Law Center themselves advertise to raise money to dismantle violent extremist groups for a period of at least a decade. They used their donor network to raise money to purportedly dismantle violent extremist groups. However, the SPLC, the Southern Poverty Law Center, used the money they raised from their donor network to actually pay the leadership of these very groups.
(04:31)
I just want to say that again. They used the fraudulently raised money by lying to their donor network, thousands of Americans, to go ahead and actually pay the leadership of these supposed violent extremist groups. The groups, as the general laid out, include the Ku Klux Klan, the United Klans of America, Unite to Right, National Alliance, the National Socialist Movement, the Aryan Nation Motorcycle Club, and the National Socialist Party of America, and also the American Front. In at least one of these matters, our investigation revealed that funds were used to facilitate the commission of further state and federal offenses, totaling over $3 million.
(05:17)
Furthermore, our investigation revealed that the Southern Poverty Law Center, on top of perpetuating this widespread, decade-long multimillion dollar fraud, conducted more criminal activity. They attempted to hide their criminal activity from our financial banking network. They set up shell companies and entities around America so that the financial institutions that we rely on as everyday Americans were deceived in believing that money was not coming from the Southern Poverty Law Center and the perpetration of this scheme and fraud, but rather fictitious entities they stood up to perpetuate this ongoing fraud.
(05:57)
This is a serious and egregious violation of a group that purported to dismantle violent extremist groups, but in turn actually only fueled the hatred. This is an important case brought by President Trump's administration. We're thankful for the President for his leadership and funding of not just the FBI and DOJ, but his commitment to go out there and wipe out fraud and conspiracy and waste and abuse wherever it occurs, including the Southern Poverty Law Center.
(06:24)
Even though this money was made to appear to be coming from legitimate people and legitimate entities, we, at the FBI, with our great partners at the Department of Justice and in the state of Alabama were able to comb through a decade worth of material, a scheme that took a decade to build so that we were able to follow the money because money never lies and they got caught. As the Attorney General said, these charges are varying. They are widespread and wide-ranging, and this investigation is very much ongoing. Today, we're here to announce the charges of the Southern Poverty Law Center, and this investigation and the individuals who are responsible will be brought to justice. Thank you, General.
Todd Blanche (07:06):
Thank you, Director Patel. Any questions?
Speaker 3 (07:10):
I'd like to know why individual people are not mentioned in this indictment. Is that something that's going to come down the pike? Is this just an indictment of the entity? Can you kind of explain, could people face charges here or is this the indictment and you're done?
Todd Blanche (07:24):
So, yes. I mean, as we said, the indictment, this investigation is very much ongoing and today the grand jury returned indictment against only one entity, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and we'll go from there. But as you'll see from the indictment itself, it should be obvious from the indictment that the investigation is ongoing.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
And I just want to make sure I understand. You're alleging that the Southern Poverty Law Center was paying the leaders of KKK and other groups to continue their operations. Is that...
Todd Blanche (07:59):
I'm not alleging it. The grand jury returned an indictment that says that. And so, what the investigation found according to the indictment that was returned today is that they were paying... So, the Southern Poverty Law Center is raising money, asking folks to give them money to dismantle racism. And over a very long period of time, they were using some of the money they raised from donors to pay to, they call them field, basically to informants, for information, for access, to just pay them for certain... To do certain things. And so, yes, that's exactly what the indictment charges.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
I was wondering if this is going to expand perhaps to more groups. Perhaps there's been a lot of accusations about particular groups like the Patriot Front that get a lot of traction. And more so is the government, or is this indictment, I should say, making the case that some of these matters where they've tried at great lengths to sort of make connections to people on the right person... I mean, Charlottesville was very much associated by the media with being sort of part of a right wing kind of thing. They're like good people on both sides type of thing. I mean, are we seeing the Southern Poverty Law Center was trying to create narratives using these types of groups to shape American public opinion?
Todd Blanche (09:22):
Look, I think what the Southern Poverty Law Center has said over the years is available for the world to see. It's on their website. It's in other forums. The indictment speaks for itself. I'm not going to talk outside the four corners of the indictment. It lays out what the grand jury found, and obviously there's a whole body of public information around what the Southern Poverty Law Center has done over the past several decades.
Speaker 5 (09:50):
I mean, in some of these instances, these are groups that have been either their membership has been dismantled or they've definitely fallen out of public view. I'm just wondering the legal theory of how these payments allegedly went on to actually benefit the groups. Did you see the money go to the groups themselves rather than just the individuals who were paid informants essentially? And then I have an off-topic effort.
Todd Blanche (10:10):
So, look, I want to be careful to keep any comments that we make inside the indictment. And so, what the indictment lays out is payments to individuals who had leadership positions within these organizations. That's what the grand jury found.
(10:30)
And so, to the extent that those individuals receiving one received over a million dollars, to the extent over several years, to the extent that there's any link between that individual receiving the money and benefits to that organization, that's not in the indictment, because again, it's not that individual who's charged with a crime, it's that individual was an informant or what have you, and it's Southern Poverty Law Center that made those payments to the individual, but it wasn't... Look, the payments were not made to these individuals in exchange for a service separate and apart from their work within these organizations. So, that I think speaks for itself.
Speaker 5 (11:15):
And just on an off-topic, obviously you've read the Atlantic article that's now a subject of a defamation lawsuit properly.
Todd Blanche (11:20):
I absolutely did not read that article, but go ahead with your question.
Speaker 5 (11:24):
Obviously, it's in litigation now, have you separately just heard any concerns given your supervision over the FBI director about any problems with drinking?
Todd Blanche (11:36):
I have a lot of concerns and my concerns are completely around the anonymous reporting that comes forth constantly that reporters have an obligation to report and they have due diligence that they're supposed to do. And when an entire article is based on anonymous sources and there's things in the article suggesting, for example, for example, apparently that senior DOJ personnel were informed of something, that's me. I wasn't informed. No one called me about that. So, listen, I did not read that article. It is the subject of litigation, but I've already spent too much time talking about it. Next question. Go ahead.
Speaker 5 (12:13):
On that, Todd, I'm sorry. The FBI director's on camera with the US Olympic hockey team chugging a beer. I mean, do you think that that's appropriate conduct for the FBI director?
Todd Blanche (12:22):
That has nothing to do with the article. I mean, look, there's complete hit pieces and you guys are in this business and you know what they look like and the fact that you're asking repeated questions about them almost as an omission of such, but when you have a bunch of people who are hiding behind closed curtains saying things, but not willing to say it publicly, and there are certain parts of the article that are blatantly false because apparently I was told something that I wasn't, it's suspicious in the back.
Speaker 6 (12:54):
Thank you, Mr. Acting Attorney General. Can you explain again what the fraud is here exactly? Are you saying it's illegal for the SPLC to pay money to people that are in hate groups or something about the way this was done makes it illegal because it's not automatically illegal, is it?
Todd Blanche (13:12):
No, that's right. It's a good question. So, again, I summarized the indictment and it's now public for everybody to read, but the Southern Poverty Law Center is a 501. Okay. They're required to, under the laws associated with a nonprofit, to have certain transparency and honesty in what they're telling donors they're going to spend money on and what their mission statement is and what they're raising money doing. And so, as the indictment points out, there's different ways that they raise money and in no fundraising efforts that the investigation found, did they say, "Oh, and by the way, we're going to give a million bucks to the Ku Klux Klan." So, that's fraud.
(13:50)
So, that's why our fraud. And then the bank fraud part of it is you have KYC, you have an obligation to tell your financial institution what the corporation or the entity that you're opening an account for does. And the allegations in the indictment are that these were fictitious companies that were set up. And so, there were certain information sworn to by SPLC executives about what the entities were doing that we allege is false.
Speaker 6 (14:16):
Can I ask one follow up?
Todd Blanche (14:19):
Go ahead.
Speaker 6 (14:19):
On the hiring of Joe diGenova to work for the department, can you just tell us a little bit, I understand you went down to Florida perhaps to take part in his swearing in or bring him on board. Can you explain why he's being brought back to the department after 40 years?
Todd Blanche (14:36):
So, I mean, look, I think that we, everybody in this administration, whether it's department justice or elsewhere, we're always looking for good people. And he's somebody who has a deep bench. As you said, he's been in this business for decades. And when we had the opportunity to ask him to join the team and help, we readily did.
Speaker 7 (14:56):
I have an on topic and an off-topic if you'll allow me. Are you able to explain a little bit more about what led to this investigation? Were you guys tipped off by a former employee or how did you guys discover this?
Todd Blanche (15:07):
No, I can't talk about that, but it's been going on for a long time. There was a time that it was shut down for a while during the last administration. I don't know why. And it was started again over the past year or so, and that brings us to today.
Speaker 7 (15:27):
I'm sorry, you mean the investigation began before this administration and then was shut down during the Biden investigation?
Todd Blanche (15:32):
That's my understanding. I don't have information beyond what I just said around that.
Speaker 7 (15:37):
I wanted to ask about the John Brennan investigation. If you can explain why the career prosecutor who had been leading that investigation was removed and if you have or had concerns that that investigation is not moving quickly enough.
Todd Blanche (15:50):
I don't have any concerns about that investigation. And again, the reporting around that really is just a source purely from leaks and not actually accurate reporting is not something I'm going to comment on and never will comment on.
Speaker 8 (16:05):
Could I ask you just to clarify one thing? Obviously, the bureau had a long relationship with the SBLC. Is it your understanding that the previous leaders at the bureau knew this was happening and didn't view it as a crime, or is that the bureau did not know this was happening?
Todd Blanche (16:22):
It is my understanding that SPLC never told anybody in law enforcement that they were paying off the Ku Klux Klan, and I don't think that should surprise anybody.
Speaker 9 (16:32):
Thank you, Mr. Acting Attorney General. I'd like you to both weigh in on a recent memo from the Office of Legal Counsel declaring the Presidential Records Act unconstitutional, so saying that presidents no longer need to preserve their documents or turn them to the government. What do you say to critics who suggests this basically eliminates transparency and accountability around how White House operates, especially given how much time you guys are spending investigating the previous administration?
Todd Blanche (16:58):
Well, look, I think there is no dispute that this administration in just 14 months has been a lot more transparent than the last administration or in any administration. So, if critics are suggesting that somehow we're not being transparent, I don't find that credible in any way, shape or form. As far as the recent OLC opinion regarding the PRA, that is something that has been heavily litigated in DC and elsewhere and OLC issuing that is not the first, that's not the first place that you see that, that it's unconstitutional.
(17:29)
I mean, I think there's a lot of places that you can go to think through of why that is. The memo speaks for itself and I don't have much to say about it beyond that.
Speaker 9 (17:39):
Jack Patel, do you want to weigh in on that?
Speaker 10 (17:42):
The president has this pending billion dollar lawsuit against the IRS. He sort of said that this is like he's negotiating with himself. Is there anything you can do to assure the American people that taxpayer dollars are being protected? How are those negotiations being handled?
Todd Blanche (17:58):
I'm most certainly not going to talk about ongoing litigation and it wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment about that case, given its status right now.
Speaker 10 (18:06):
Broadly with the various interests, the competing interests there, right? You have the president in the White House pressing obviously for some personal money, and then you have him being your boss. So, just broadly speaking, how do you sort of handle that sort of issue?
Todd Blanche (18:20):
I mean, the Department of Justice handles complicated decisions involving those type of issues every day, all day, and not just this Department of Justice. Every Department of Justice handles issues like that. I mean, you have decisions that an Attorney General or his or her staff have to make that are difficult and complicated and we do it. Attorney General's before me have done it and we'll be able to handle it in an appropriate and ethical manner.
Speaker 11 (18:44):
Thank you, Acting Attorney General. A question for you and then a question for the FBI director. You spoke about the timeline of the investigation. I know you said you have not much more to say about that, but I am curious if you can talk about if it started in 2017, 2018, and just given what you said about the Biden administration turning it off, how is the Department of Justice ensuring this investigation remains free from political influence?
Todd Blanche (19:06):
Well, I mean, look, there is nothing political about this indictment or this investigation. SPLC has lawyers, and if they think that I'm wrong about that, they're going to be free to make a motion in front of judge like every other defendant in the country. I just don't know information. It wasn't that far ago. It was within the past four or five years, but there was a decision made. I don't have any insight into why it was made to not pursue the investigation and we started it again and that brings us to where we are today.
Speaker 11 (19:39):
I do want to give you an opportunity to-
Todd Blanche (19:42):
I'm sorry. You had... I'm sorry.
Speaker 11 (19:42):
... respond directly to the allegations in the Atlantic article that your unexplained absences created a national security risk. And beyond that, can you say definitively that you have not been intoxicated or absent during your tenure as FBI director?
Patel (19:58):
I can say unequivocally that I never listen to the fake news mafia, and as when they get louder, it just means I'm doing my job. This FBI director has been on the job twice as many days as every director before me. What that means is I've taken half as many days off as those before me. What that means is I've taken a third less vacation than those before me. What that means is that this FBI with this Department of Justice has dropped the murder rate 20 points. What that means is this FBI, with this Department of Justice, has captured eight of the top 10 most wanted fugitives in the world, twice as many as the Biden administration did in its entire four years.
(20:37)
What that means is this FBI has seized enough fentanyl off the streets to kill 178 million Americans at 31% increase. What that means is this FBI and this DOJ has arrested 43% more spies in 14 months in the entirety of the Biden administration. What that means is this FBI has seen a reduction in opioid overdose that's up to 20% alone. What that means is that we have found 6,300 child victims, 6,300 families have their kids back. That is a 22% increase from the Biden administration. I'm on the job. I'm the first one in.
(21:13)
I'm the last one out. I'm like an everyday American who loves his country, loves the sport of hockey, and champions my friends when they raise a gold medal and invite me in to celebrate. I've never been intoxicated on the job, and that is why we filed a $250 million defamation lawsuit. And any one of you that wants to participate, bring it on. I'll see you in court.
Speaker 10 (21:34):
Can you explain the computer login issue? Just explain the computer login issue. You were not able to log into the... Your lawsuit contends that you were not able to log into the system. What did you think after you were unable to log into the system?
Patel (21:44):
Let's have a survey. How many of you people believe that's true? Hang on.
Speaker 10 (21:48):
Did you communicate with...
Patel (21:48):
You asked the question. Let me answer it.
Speaker 10 (21:50):
No, no, let me...
Patel (21:50):
No, no.
Speaker 10 (21:51):
Did you communicate with anyone that you thought you were fired after you were unable to log into...
Patel (21:56):
The problem with you and your report... don't cut me off. You asked the question.
Speaker 10 (21:59):
Straightforward question.
Patel (22:00):
The problem with you and your baseless reporting is that is an absolute lie. It was never said, it never happened. And I will serve in this administration as long as the president and the attorney general want me to do so. And every time you guys report false lies, every time you guys raise baseless questions, when we are here to talk about the Southern Poverty Law Center's $3 million decade long scheme to fraudulently fleece Americans, you are off-topic.
Speaker 10 (22:29):
It's a simple, straightforward question. Did you talk to anybody about whether you thought you were fired?
Patel (22:32):
The simple answer to your question is you are lying and every time you do so...
Speaker 10 (22:38):
I'm asking you a direct question.
Patel (22:38):
I've answered your question. It's simply as follows. I was never locked out of my systems. Anybody who says...
Speaker 10 (22:46):
Your lawsuit says the opposite. Your lawsuit can...
Patel (22:48):
Anyone that says the opposite is lying. Thank you.
Speaker 10 (22:51):
The lawsuit that you filed says that direct...
Todd Blanche (22:53):
Look, man, stop. You're being extraordinarily rude. And I know maybe that's part of your profession, but please just stop. If you ask a question, he can answer it. And then now you're interrupting me. Just a little bit of respect, man. Just a tiny little bit. Try it sometime. Go ahead.
Speaker 12 (23:09):
Earlier today, Senate Majority Leader, John Thune, once again, was pleading for an end to the Justice Department's investigation into Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell. How do you respond to a direct request like this from someone in your own party?
Todd Blanche (23:25):
I haven't received the request formally yet. I mean, listen, this is an ongoing investigation and that's something that we can't talk about aside from saying, yes, it's an ongoing investigation. And the Senator knows that and other senators know that as well and we'll get through it, but it is an ongoing investigation and we can't really talk about it, especially not in public, but we'll try to address any senator, not just a senator from the Republican Party's concerns about that.
Speaker 13 (23:55):
Director Patel, you said in an interview over this weekend regarding the election into whether the 2020 presidential election was stolen. You said that there were going to be arrests coming, and I promise you it's coming soon. Hoping you could just elaborate a little bit on what that meant.
Patel (24:13):
Sure. We have many ongoing investigations into large scale conspiracies, and like we did today, we'll be announcing those arrests when the grand jury returns those indictments.
Todd Blanche (24:23):
All right. Just one more question, sir.
Speaker 14 (24:25):
I have an on topic and off-topic. On the Southern Poverty Law Center, my understanding was from the video that the group posted today that this program about paying the informants had ended. I wasn't clear about when that was. Do you have any information about when this program stopped paying informants and then if there's a statute of limitations issue there? I just wasn't sure how far back we're talking. And then I'll have another on topic.
Todd Blanche (24:49):
So, look, all I can tell you is the indictment alleges a very long period of time that includes up to 2023. So, I can't speak beyond if anything has been happening since then, just what the grand jury found.
Speaker 14 (25:03):
Okay. And then I also wanted to ask a follow-up on Joe diGenova. Looking back at, he's been very vocal over the years about his thoughts about the 2016 investigation, about the intelligence assessment. One quote that he said in an article in 2020 was, "There's no doubt John Brennan was a primal genitor of this entire counterintelligence investigation. It was John Brennan who went to James Comey and basically pummeled him into starting a counterintelligence investigation against Trump. Brennan's at the heart of this."
(25:33)
Given those prior statements, isn't there possibly a conflict of interest or at the very least a perceived conflict of interest having him oversee this investigation and has he been vetted for conflicts prior to being hired at the Justice Department?
Todd Blanche (25:49):
I don't know. I'm not sure what the conflict of interest would be because somebody has said something in the past about a particular matter. That doesn't create a conflict necessarily. That's not what the conflicts are designed for just that. And I think...
Speaker 14 (26:03):
It creates a sense of bias, doesn't it? Like he's coming into the investigation with preconceived views about a target of your investigation. Isn't that a problem?
Todd Blanche (26:11):
I mean, I just completely disagree with the premise. I mean, look, if you look at what happened during the president's investigations, there were prosecutors that were actively involved in the 2016 information with Barr and what AG Barr was doing. They readily joined the case and one of them was actually stood up in court. So, I don't think it's unusual and it's not something that... Sir, he has to make sure that he's doing everything ethically. I'm sure that he would. He has to make sure that everything he's doing is not in conflict with whatever rules, the rules that we have in this building.
(26:47)
But the mere fact that he has spoken about his perception, he didn't have access to grand jury information, he didn't have access to witnesses. And so, like any prosecutor, I expect that he will follow the facts and those facts come from witnesses and grand jury information. All right. Thanks a lot, guys. I appreciate it.
Speaker 15 (27:06):
One more quick one, real quick. President Trump over the weekend was talking about...