INTERNACIONAL
Neo-Nazi, Klan ‘Cyclops’ and ‘Sadistic’ biker: Here’s who SPLC paid in its informant network
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The Montgomery-based Southern Poverty Law Center was indicted this week on federal fraud charges stemming from a years-long covert paid informant program, which Justice Department officials said allocated millions of dollars in donations to a network of informants affiliated with or closely tied to White supremacist and neo-Nazi groups.
The 11-count indictment accuses the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) of wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering.
According to the Justice Department, the SPLC sent some $3 million to its paid informants between 2014 and 2023 — including persons affiliated with the United Klans of America, the National Socialist Party of America, and the Aryan Nations-linked «Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club,» among others.
Senior Trump administration officials took aim at the covert paid informant program, which funneled outside donations, at least in part, to informants affiliated with the same extremist groups the SPLC was founded decades earlier to oppose.
SPLC FACES BLOWBACK FROM ‘HATE MAP’ TARGETS AFTER DOJ FRAUD INDICTMENT
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche spoke during a press conference alongside FBI Director Kash Patel at the Department of Justice on April 21, 2026, in Washington, D.C., following the indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center on charges related to money laundering. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
»As the indictment describes, the SPLC was not dismantling these groups,» Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told reporters Tuesday at a press conference.
«It was instead manufacturing the extremism it purports to oppose by paying sources to stoke racial hatred.»
The SPLC’s paid informant program funded individuals with ties to the Ku Klux Klan, the National Socialist Party of America, and others — including a member of an online «leadership chat group» that helped plan the deadly «Unite the Right» rally in Charlottesville, officials said.
Here are the top five most eye-popping paid informants revealed in this week’s indictment.
1. The Charlottesville coordinator
Among the paid informants identified in the indictment is a member of an online «leadership chat group» that Blanche said helped plan the deadly 2017 «Unite the Right» event in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The individual, referred to only as «F-37,» attended the event at the direction of the SPLC and was paid more than $270,000 for his or her work as an informant between 2015 and 2023, according to the indictment.
The indictment alleges that the individual shared «racist social media posts and helped organize transportation to events» associated with the deadly rally.
The news that the informant helped coordinate logistics, at least in some small part, for the deadly rally while under SPLC supervision is significant, especially given that the aftermath of the event prompted a new influx of donations to the nonprofit.
«They lied to their donors, vowing to dismantle violent extremist groups, and actually turned around and paid the leaders of these very extremist groups — even utilizing the funds to have these groups facilitate the commission of state and federal crimes,» FBI Director Kash Patel said. «That is illegal — and this is an ongoing investigation against all individuals involved.»
SUPREME COURT CLEARS PATH FOR DOJ TO ERASE STEVE BANNON’S JAN 6 CONVICTION
Clashes occurred at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., on Aug. 12, 2017. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post via Getty Images)
2. A million-dollar burglar
One longtime member of the National Alliance, a White supremacist group tied to multiple violent attacks, profited handsomely from the SPLC in his role as a paid informant.
According to the indictment, SPLC paid the National Alliance member more than $1 million over a nine-year period for his role, which included clandestine activities such as breaking into the group’s headquarters to steal some 25 boxes of documents, which he photocopied and distributed to the SPLC.
The group appears to have later used those documents to create a report about the National Alliance.
After the stolen documents were utilized partly in public, SPLC paid another National Alliance member $6,000 to falsely take responsibility for the theft.
The National Alliance and the writings of its founder have been closely associated with a litany of violent attacks since the 1980s, including a 1999 multi-state shooting spree targeting minorities and Jewish Americans, and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.
TRUMP ADMIN AGENCIES COORDINATING TO EXPOSE BIDEN ADMIN’S ‘PROLIFIC AND DANGEROUS’ WEAPONIZATION OF GOVERNMENT
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Assistant Attorney General for the Fraud Division Colin McDonald leave the Justice Department after a news conference on the Trump administration’s anti-fraud efforts in Washington on April 7, 2026. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)
3. The ‘extremist file’ chairman
The SPLC also shelled out more than $140,000 to a paid informant who chaired the National Alliance neo-Nazi group.
The indictment accuses the SPLC of funneling tens of thousands of dollars to the individual between 2016 and 2023.
At least some of the payments occurred at the same time the National Alliance chairman himself was listed on the SPLC’s website, as part of its public «Extremist File» website — a striking and somewhat ironic fact, given that the site was warning the public about how dangerous the individual was.
4. Klan ‘Imperial Wizard’
Among the paid informants was an «Imperial Wizard» of The United Klans of America, a White supremacist group that the SPLC has linked to the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, that killed four young girls and injured more than a dozen others.
Martin Luther King Jr. described the bombing, which exploded 19 sticks of pre-laid dynamite beneath the steps of a local church, as «one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity.» It was unclear how much the paid informant received from the SPLC.
Separately, SPLC also funneled money to a Ku Klux Klan member and spouse of an «Exalted Cyclops» — or a local Klan leader tasked with overseeing membership, organizing meetings, and directing activities.
According to the indictment, the informant’s link to the SPLC became known during the KKK chapter’s application to partake in the «Adopt-A-Highway» program, resulting in the discovery of more than $3,500 in known payments from the SPLC.
‘WHITE SAVIORS» USE OF WHISTLES CAUSES BITTER INTERNAL RIFT INSIDE ANTI-ICE MOVEMENT
The Department of Justice building is seen in Washington, D.C. (Ting Shen/Bloomberg via Getty)
5. $300K ‘Sadistic Souls’ biker
During the six-year period between 2014 and 2020, the SPLC sent a staggering $300,000 to one paid informant, F-27, who was an officer in both the National Socialist Movement group and the Aryan Nations-affiliated Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club.
The SPLC also sent some $160,000 to other extremist groups, including the former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.
No individuals were named in the indictment, though Blanche noted during a press conference Tuesday that the investigation is ongoing.
According to federal prosecutors, the SPLC’s paid informant program began in the 1980s, shortly after its founding in the 1970s, and allegedly relied on a series of bank accounts set up for fictitious entities and used to funnel the covert payments to informants.
«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,» Blanche said.
The news comes as the SPLC has seen an increase in public support in recent years — including a groundswell of donations following the 2017 Unite the Right rally, and from prominent donors including George Clooney and Apple CEO Tim Cook.
«Donors gave their money believing they were supporting the fight against violent extremism,» Kevin Davidson, the acting U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Alabama, said in a statement.
«As alleged, the SPLC instead diverted a portion of those funds to benefit individuals and groups they claimed to oppose,» Davidson added.
«That kind of deception undermines public trust and social cohesion.»
A spokesperson for the Southern Poverty Law Center told Fox News Digital earlier this week they are reviewing the indictment. The group has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
«Taking on violent hate and extremist groups is among the most dangerous work there is, and we believe it is also among the most important work we do,» interim SPLC president Bryan Fair said this week in a statement. «The actions by the DOJ will not shake our resolve to fight for justice and ensure the promise of the Civil Rights Movement becomes a reality for all.»
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The spokesperson for the SPLC defended its work monitoring White supremacist groups and other violent extremist organizations — including via the paid informant program — telling Fox News Digital that their use has «saved lives.»
donald trump, politics, hate crime, investigations, fox news investigates, federal courts, crime
INTERNACIONAL
‘He hated women’: Explosive abuse, new Nazi tattoo allegations from exes rock Platner’s campaign
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Some of Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner’s ex-girlfriends spoke out in a damning report Thursday, which chronicled new allegations of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes.
Platner continues to be under fire for a chest tattoo called the Totenkopf, used by Nazi death camp guards, alleged sexting of younger women and publicly finding humor in a Taliban attack that nearly killed former Pennsylvania lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Teddy Daniels.
One of his ex-girlfriends, Lyndsey Fifield, told the New York Times the two met in 2013 when he was a George Washington University student and she was with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce with a growing presence in conservative circles.
Fifield recounted how Platner would poke fun at his chest tattoo of a Totenkopf — an emblem used by Nazi death camp guards.
Fifield told the paper that Platner explained he and other members of his military unit chose it because of parallels between them and the Schutzstaffel — in that «they were a death unit… killers,» which appears to contradict his narrative that he did not know the tattoo was associated with the Nazi emblem.
DEMOCRATIC MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE GRAHAM PLATNER CONFRONTED BY MS NOW HOST ABOUT TATTOO CONTROVERSY
She also recalled how the oyster farmer and veteran would sharpen an ax while watching television and ruminate about raping home invaders.
«He said this a lot: If anybody ever broke in here, I would rape them,» but not in a sexual or «gay» way, Fifield said, adding that Platner stated he would want to instead impose dominance over them through penetration and that he believed rape was about power.
She also described a public encounter where Platner purportedly pulled her out of a taxi by her wrist during an altercation.
LEFT-WING DEM SENATE HOPEFUL CHEERED ON ANTIFA VIOLENCE IN UNEARTHED RANT: ‘KILL A MOTHERF—ER’
Platner, who has acknowledged his battle with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from his time in the military, told Fox News Digital that he has «been open about what was a very dark period of my life where I struggled with undiagnosed PTSD.»
«Throughout this campaign, I’ve been open about what was a very dark period of my life where I struggled with undiagnosed PTSD, too often self-medicated with alcohol, and was a far from perfect boyfriend,» Platner said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
«I take responsibility for all of that, and wish I had been better. Any characterization beyond that is false, and I believe, politically motivated,» he added. «I’m not proud of who I was then, but I am proud of the work I’ve done since, and the movement we are building in Maine.»
Fifield recounted another incident when Platner reportedly pushed her into a bedroom and held the door shut. She later was able to leave after falling asleep and waking after some time had passed.
SENATE CANDIDATE GRAHAM PLATNER SENT EXPLICIT TEXTS TO MULTIPLE WOMEN WHILE MARRIED, WIFE SAYS: REPORT
Besides the rape visualizations, Platner would «fantasize about killing people he deemed a threat,» according to the Times’ conversation with Fifield – who declined to comment for purposes of this article.
Fifield added that in addition to the ax which he had from prior work bushwacking on the Appalachian Trail, Platner kept an AR-15 in his Capitol Hill home. The firearm type is currently prohibited in the District of Columbia, but that law is under legal challenge from the Trump Justice Department.
Of Fifield’s allegations, Platner’s campaign pointed to her conservative-leaning politics and called her a «lifelong GOP operative who’s dedicated her career to electing Republicans.»
NEW WEBSITE PUTS PLATNER ON NOTICE BY AMPLIFYING SCANDALS: ‘ONE RED FLAG AFTER ANOTHER’
In turn, Fifield, who previously worked at the Heritage Foundation and briefly worked on Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign, among other conservative jobs, said she is not affiliated with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine; the five-term incumbent Platner is challenging.
Senate candidate Graham Platner is under fire, but it was his wife Amy Gertner coming out with a controversial five-minute social media post by the campaign to denounce the ‘attacks’ while she did not deny the allegations of infidelity in a new marriage. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Another woman, Jenny Racicot, is a fellow Maine Democrat who was in an «off-and-on» relationship with Platner between 2019 and 2021, according to the Times.
She told the paper some of Platner’s controversial Reddit posts hardened her view that he has issues with women.
DEMOCRAT BLASTED BY LEFT AND RIGHT AFTER SOFTENING STANCE ON SCANDAL-HIT MAINE CANDIDATE
«I recognized a version of him that I had experiences with,» she said.
Another Maine Democrat who he dated declined to have her name published by the Times and said Platner would at times drink heavily, and that her role in the relationship seemed like «collateral damage to the world that is his.»
The Republican National Committee said the report appears to be nothing new in the cadence of scandals facing the Democratic challenger.
WATCH: SCANDAL-PLAGUED PLATNER DODGES QUESTIONS BEFORE DC MEETING WITH DEMOCRATS
Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner has centered his campaign on progressive economic policies, including higher taxes on billionaires and expanded tax relief for working-class Americans. (Sophie Park/Getty Images)
«Every day brings another deeply disturbing revelation about Graham Platner,» spokeswoman Delanie Bomar said.
«If he’s willing to do this to his own girlfriend, imagine what he’s willing to do in a position of political power. Maine voters deserve to know why Democrats are willing to excuse this deranged behavior,» said Bomar.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
«If Chuck Schumer and national Democrats don’t distance themselves from Platner, they’ll be forced to answer for his behavior every day from now until Election Day,» she continued.
Fox News Digital also reached out to Collins, Gov. Janet Mills, Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, and Maine House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Old Orchard Beach; the legislature’s top Democrat, for comment.
politics, rape, sex crimes, fund raising, republicans
El inesperado regreso de los pantalones bombachos lidera la moda primavera-verano 2026 en el hemisferio norte, pero detrás de esta tendencia hay una historia profunda de reivindicación femenina y transformación cultural.
Los pantalones bombachos, originarios del Oriente, se han convertido en un símbolo feminista desde su llegada a Europa hasta su resurgimiento actual.
A lo largo de los siglos, esta prenda ha representado apropiación cultural, poder femenino y cambio social, factores que explican su vigencia más allá de la moda, según destaca Vogue.
La fascinación europea por las culturas orientales se intensificó desde el siglo XVII, convirtiendo al imperio otomano en fuente de inspiración. En la corte de Versalles, la marquesa de Pompadour adoptó el “traje a la turca”, apareciendo en retratos con turbante y pantalones bombachos como símbolo de autonomía.
Otras figuras francesas, como la condesa de Vergennes y la bailarina Rosalie Duthé, también siguieron esta tendencia. En Inglaterra, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu describió a su hermana desde Estambul: “La primera parte de mi vestido consiste en unos bombachos muy amplios que llegan hasta los zapatos, y cubren las piernas con mayor modestia que tus enaguas”.
El auge del orientalismo, alimentado por obras literarias como “Las mil y una noches” y las “Cartas persas” de Montesquieu, introdujo una nueva visión de la feminidad en la moda y el arte. Los pantalones bombachos adquirieron entonces un papel relevante en la cultura europea, cruzando fronteras y resignificando su simbolismo.
En el siglo XIX, los pantalones bombachos se asociaron estrechamente con la lucha por los derechos de la mujer. Amelia Bloomer, editora de The Lily, popularizó en Estados Unidos esta prenda, luego llamada “bloomers”, e insistió en su vínculo con el activismo femenino y la comodidad.
Al adoptar el “nuevo vestido” inspirado en Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Bloomer narró: “En cuanto se supo que llevaba el nuevo vestido, recibí cientos de cartas de mujeres de todo el país preguntando por él y pidiendo patrones, lo que demostraba lo dispuestas y ansiosas que estaban por deshacerse de las polleras largas y pesadas”, relató al medio citado.
Las burlas y la crítica fueron constantes, pero activistas y universitarias mantuvieron los bombachos en el vestuario cotidiano. Bloomer compartió: “Me resultaba cómodo, ligero, fácil y práctico. Se adaptaba a las necesidades de mi ajetreada vida […] así que no permití que las burlas o la censura me afectaran”.
Con la expansión del deporte femenino, los bombachos se popularizaron en actividades como golf, tenis y ciclismo. La bicicleta tuvo un impacto especial, facilitando el uso de esta prenda y simbolizando la libertad femenina.
Vogue ya recomendaba en 1895: “Los pantalones o bombachos deben ser del mismo material que la falda. La característica más importante de la falda para montar en bicicleta es su escasa amplitud […] así se consigue una silueta menos aparatosa”.
Un informe citado por el medio citado afirmaba que la prenda “ha contribuido más a la emancipación de nuestro sexo que cualquier conferencia, artículo periodístico o libro denso”.
En el siglo XX, la influencia orientalista resurgió en la moda. El diseñador Paul Poiret llevó los bombachos a la alta costura, inspirado por los Ballets Rusos tras su llegada a París en 1909.
Aparecieron nombres como jupe-culotte (“pantalón-falda”), robe-pantalon (“vestido-pantalón”) o “pantalones harem” (pantalones bombachos), denominación occidentalizada que permanece hasta hoy.
En los años 60 y 70, la diseñadora Thea Porter la incluyó en las colecciones bohemias, fusionando referencias de Oriente Medio y moda europea.
A mediados de las siguientes décadas, Yves Saint Laurent consolidó los bombachos como prenda icónica. Durante los años 70 y 1980, permanecieron en las pasarelas, en versiones maximalistas de estampados y texturas.
La diversidad de versiones actuales —incluyendo opciones como capri y shorts— demuestra su adaptabilidad y permanencia. El regreso de los bombachos no solo señala una tendencia, sino que resume siglos de lucha, transformación y autoafirmación femenina.
La historia de los pantalones bombachos ilustra cómo una prenda puede desafiar convenciones y abrir posibilidades para nuevas formas de autonomía. En cada época, vestir bombachos ha sido reivindicar evolución y libertad, como recuerda Vogue.
moda,pasarela,acuarela,ilustración,diseño,minimalismo,estilo,neutral,elegante,arte
INTERNACIONAL
Pete Hegseth warns narco-terrorists as US backs Bolivia’s government amid coup warnings
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
War Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday said the United States remains committed to helping defend Bolivia’s fragile government amid ongoing warnings of a coup d’état.
In a post on X, Hegseth said the War Department and the Americas Counter Cartel Coalition (A3C), a recently established multinational military and political alliance, reject all attempts to overthrow the government of Rodrigo Paz Pereira a mere six months into his term.
«The United States is watching. Bolivia must not allow itself to fall prey to the old status quo of narco-terrorist dominance in the region,» Hegseth wrote. «We will continue to support our A3C partners like Bolivia to ensure that narco-terrorists are deterred from profiting on death and destruction in our hemisphere.»
PETE HEGSETH MAKES HOMELAND SECURITY TOP MISSION IN FIRST INTERVIEW AS SECRETARY OF WAR
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on May 30, 2026. On Thursday, Hegseth reaffirmed the Trump administration’s support for Bolivia’s fragile government amid mass protests. (Edgar Su/Reuters)
Bolivia’s capital, La Paz, has been rocked by weeks of social unrest as mass protests have blocked streets in major cities amid economic inflation and rising fuel prices.
Bolivian Defense Minister Marcelo Salinas resigned Tuesday.
Upon taking office, Paz supported a land reform bill to boost agribusiness that Indigenous farmers said put them at risk of eviction. He further scrapped fuel subsidies, sending prices surging by nearly 90%. Motorists complained that the gasoline was contaminated and ruined their cars.
The Trump administration has said drug traffickers are responsible for inciting the mass unrest.
RUBIO IDENTIFIES ‘SINGLE MOST SERIOUS THREAT’ TO THE US FROM WESTERN HEMISPHERE
Police officers fired tear gas at community members who seized the Humberto Suarez oil facility during protests calling for President Rodrigo Paz’s resignation in Santa Rosa del Sara, Bolivia, on June 3, 2026. The protests have caused fuel and food shortages. (Ipa Ibanez/Reuters)
«Let there be no mistake: the United States stands squarely in support of Bolivia’s legitimate constitutional government,» Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote Wednesday on X. «We will not allow criminals and drug traffickers to overthrow democratically elected leaders in our hemisphere.»
«Let us not make any mistake about that; it is a coup financed by this perverse alliance between politics and organized crime across the region,» Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said Tuesday, stating that the protests were part of an ongoing «coup d’état.»
Bolivia’s President Rodrigo Paz delivers a speech in La Paz on June 3, 2026, after naming Ernesto Justiniano as defense minister following the resignation of Marcelo Salinas amid protests. (Claudia Morales/Reuters)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Meanwhile, former President Evo Morales, the country’s first Indigenous president who ruled for an unprecedented 14 years, is calling for early elections. «Paz only has two paths left: a suicidal decision like militarization or … an election in the next 90 days,» he wrote on X.
For almost two years now, Morales has been hiding out in Bolivia’s central coca-growing Chapare region, evading an arrest warrant on human trafficking charges relating to allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old girl. He rejects the allegations as politically motivated.
pete hegseth, national security, narco terror, state department, secretary of state
Abusó sexualmente de un niño de 10 años y fue condenado a prisión: lo manipuló ofreciéndole recompensas para un videojuego
Carrió cuestionó la columna de Milei en el Financial Times sobre Inteligencia Artificial: “Experimento catastrófico”
El descargo de Rodrigo Lussich contra Mariano Martínez tras su pelea en vivo: “Una psicopateada absoluta de un cínico”
La Legislatura de Chubut aprobó un proyecto de ley que restringe el uso del celular en las escuelas
El informe más esperado por la City: el nuevo precio del dólar que prevén casi 50 economistas
River Plate habría llegado a un acuerdo verbal con Ángel Correa ¿Qué falta para que se concrete?
Caputo: “Puede haber un shock externo o una invasión extraterrestre, pero Kicillof no va a ser presidente nunca en su vida”
Javier y Karina Milei evitarán escalar la interna con Patricia Bullrich tras los cruces por el pliego de una jueza
Jornada financiera: las acciones argentinas subieron hasta 10% en Wall Street y bajó el riesgo país
La trama detrás de “la banda de los mendocinos” que colonizó Arsat con vínculos con el poder
ECONOMIA2 días agoCaputo: “Puede haber un shock externo o una invasión extraterrestre, pero Kicillof no va a ser presidente nunca en su vida”
- POLITICA1 día ago
Javier y Karina Milei evitarán escalar la interna con Patricia Bullrich tras los cruces por el pliego de una jueza
- POLITICA3 días ago
La trama detrás de “la banda de los mendocinos” que colonizó Arsat con vínculos con el poder
