The Trump administration’s fraud prosecution against the Southern Poverty Law Center was in an Alabama courtroom for arraignment on Thursday, where the Montgomery-based civil rights group pleaded not guilty. But even ahead of that scheduled court appearance, the group’s defense lawyers had already started playing offense.
In one of its motions ahead of Thursday’s hearing, the center called out what it deemed a “false and unfairly prejudicial statement” made by acting Attorney General Todd Blanche on Fox News: that the government didn’t have information to suggest the group shared with law enforcement what it learned from informants. The SPLC said that claim was false, writing in its motion that its counsel provided such information to the government.
In response, the Justice Department effectively acknowledged there was at least some merit to the defense’s point. But the DOJ cited a subsequent statement Blanche made on another Fox News program, where he said over the years the group has “selectively shared information with law enforcement. That’s well-documented and there’s no dispute there.” The DOJ said that follow-up comment sufficed to address the defense allegation, “to the extent that any clarification was needed.”
It added, “The United States of America has no intention of making any false or misleading statements in this case or any other case.”
In a separate motion, the SPLC’s lawyers are seeking disclosure of the grand jury proceedings that led to the group’s ...
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