INTERNACIONAL
Radical activist groups circle wagons around Southern Poverty Law Center amid federal charges
DOJ charges SPLC with fraud, alleges millions funneled to extremists
The Department of Justice charges the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) with fraud, accusing the organization of funneling over $3 million to various extremist groups. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel detailed the accusations, highlighting payments to KKK members and Aryan Nations affiliates. GW University Law Professor Jonathan Turley adds that an earlier probe into the SPLC was mysteriously closed by the Biden administration.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Left-wing nonprofits are rallying behind the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as the self-described «beacon of hope» for «fighting white supremacy» faces federal fraud charges.
In a blog post written by National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Senior Policy Advisor Mel Wilson, Wilson said, «it is important that we stand with and support The Southern Poverty Law Center until the legal travails are complete — with full confidence that SPLC will be vindicated.»
Below her commentary, Wilson listed a number of «coalition members» that are standing with SPLC and are a part of «The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.»
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, left, and SPLC interim President and CEO Bryan Fair are shown in a split image as the Justice Department pursues charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images; USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images)
The list included more than one hundred non-profit organizations.
SPLC INDICTMENT BUILDS MOMENTUM FOR BESSENT’S TREASURY TO PROBE PARTISAN NONPROFITS
Separately, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a press release defending SPLC, saying that it stands with the nonprofit, and accusing the Department of Justice of «targeting» the organization.
«This reported federal targeting of SPLC appears to be a transparently political attack on the rule of law meant to undermine the vital role civil rights groups play in countering hate groups. This is unacceptable and must not stand,» CAIR’s statement read.
«We encourage all Americans and elected officials to stand in solidarity with the SPLC and all other organizations dedicated to the protection of civil rights,» the statement continued.
BLACK CHURCH GROUP RETRACTS ‘INAPPROPRIATE’ CALL FOR AL SHARPTON’S SUSPENSION OVER DONATIONS FROM HARRIS CAMP
CAIR was named a co-conspirator during The Holy Land Foundation (HLF) trial from 2007-2008, where five members of the HLF were convicted of conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization, providing material support, money laundering and tax fraud after allegations that HLF funneled $12.4 million to Hamas in the early 2000s.
Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, leads a press conference with CAIR California leaders amid calls from House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith for an IRS investigation into the group’s tax-exempt status. (Leonard Ortiz/Digital First Media/Orange County Register/Getty Images)
While CAIR never faced charges and was only named by prosecutors during the trial, the FBI cut ties with the nonprofit following the case.
SEC. NOEM SAYS HOMELAND SECURITY WILL FREEZE GRANTS TO NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and IRS CEO Frank Bisignano referring CAIR-California for IRS review. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoke to reporters following a Senate Republican luncheon. (Al Drago/Getty Images)
Fox News Digital reached out to NASW but did not receive a response.
Federal authorities announced earlier this week that the Southern Poverty Law Center, known for civil rights litigation and racial justice, was indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly funneling millions to members of violent extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan, Aryan Nations and the National Socialist Party of America (American Nazi Party).
FAR-LEFT AGITATOR WHO ORGANIZED MN CHURCH STORMING RAKED IN OVER $1 MILLION FROM ANTI-POVERTY NONPROFIT
According to the SPLC’s Form 990 filing with the IRS, the 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization posted roughly $129 million in total revenue in fiscal year 2024 with nearly $800 million in total assets.
The organization says that the money was for informants to report back to SPLC and provide information about the groups and their inner workings.
The indictment said that one alleged informant, who was paid $270,000, shared «racist social media posts» under SPLC supervision, and that the nonprofit «helped organize transportation to events» during the deadly 2017 «Unite the Right» event in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Neo Nazis, Alt-Right, and White Supremacists take part a the night before the ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, VA, white supremacists march with tiki torchs through the University of Virginia campus. (Zach D Roberts/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
EX-NONPROFIT BOSS ALLEGEDLY SWIPED $1.2M MEANT FOR HOMELESS PROGRAMS TO FUND LAVISH LIFESTYLE, DA SAYS
«These individuals risked their lives to infiltrate and inform on the activities of our nation’s most radical and violent extremist groups,» SPLC Interim President and CEO Bryan Fair said in a video statement. «When we began working with informants, we were living in the shadow of the height of the civil rights movement, which had seen bombings at churches, state-sponsored violence against demonstrators, and the murders of activists that went unanswered by the justice system.»
In 1994, an investigative series by the Montgomery Advertiser examined the financials of SPLC at the time, finding that the founder was heavily focused on fundraising for the nonprofit, running the organization like a business or corporation. It also found that the salaries of SPLC were high, and that the nonprofit raised significantly more money than it spent.
The Montgomery Advertiser was a finalist for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Journalism due to the series on SPLC.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) building seen in March 2020 in Montgomery, Alabama. (Barry Lewis/InPictures via Getty Images)
SPLC co-founder Joe Levin rejected the paper’s claims at the time.
DOJ SAYS SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER FUNNELED $3M+ TO WHITE SUPREMACIST AND EXTREMIST GROUPS
Margaret Huang, who served as the CEO of the nonprofit until her resignation last summer, made $522,000 a year as reported by Charity Watch, which gave SPLC an «F» rating in May 2025 «due to it having six years’ worth of available assets in reserve.»
The indictments also raise questions about whether SPLC donors were misled on how their money was being spent, including payments made to members of the KKK and other extremist groups.
«The SPLC indictment is legally valid, well-pleaded, and built to survive motion practice, former federal prosecutor and legal expert Andrew Cherkasky told Fox News Digital. «The wire fraud counts rest on specific, quoted solicitations telling donors their money would be used to ‘dismantle’ violent extremist groups, paired with the material omission that more than three million dollars flowed to the leaders, fundraisers, and organizers of those very same groups.»
FBI Director Kash Patel speaks during a news conference at the Justice Department in Washington on April 21, 2026. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)
OVERSIGHT DEMANDS DOJ ANSWERS ON FOREIGN FUNDING OF AGITATOR GROUPS AS IRAN, ANTI-ICE PROTESTS CONTINUE
Cherkasky noted that paying informants is not illegal, and that journalists, watchdog groups and the government regularly use them. But he noted «a nonprofit is criminally liable for the acts of its agents committed within the scope of their duties and for the organization’s benefit.»
«A high-level SPLC employee coordinated payment for documents stolen by a paid source who twice burglarized an extremist group’s headquarters, and a different source was paid six thousand dollars to falsely confess to the theft,» Cherkasky explained. «If proven, that is sponsored criminal conduct directed from inside the organization, and it carries institutional exposure that extends beyond the criminal counts to potential loss of tax-exempt status, civil liability to victims, and fiduciary exposure for directors and officers.»
FBI Director Kash Patel said Tuesday that SPLC was not honest or transparent with its donors.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
«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,» Patel said. «That is illegal — and this is an ongoing investigation against all individuals involved.»
Fox News Digital reached out to SPLC, but did not receive a response.
hate crime, fbi, law, investigations, fund raising
INTERNACIONAL
Huida de película: escapó de China en un gomón y con un celular casi sin batería y llegó a Canadá
Dong dice que superó el miedo a la muerte
Del centro de refugiados a Canadá
Dong promete seguir adelante con su activismo
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Two of the Supreme Court’s conservative justices criticized the majority’s decision not to take up attorney Alan Dershowitz’s defamation case against CNN, saying the high court missed an opportunity to revisit a controversial 1960s defamation precedent.
The dissent from the court’s conservative wing effectively called on the justices to revisit longstanding libel precedent, echoing President Donald Trump’s 2016 calls to loosen U.S. libel laws.
Dershowitz, who has represented famous figures like Trump, O.J. Simpson and Leona Helmsley, claimed CNN deceptively edited a snippet of his defense during Trump’s first impeachment trial about «quid pro quo[s]» to make it sound like he said the opposite of his fuller statements and used that clip to damage his reputation.
Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch — appointees of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Trump, respectively — criticized their colleagues for relying on the «actual malice» standard in evaluating whether CNN defamed Dershowitz, arguing the standard is not rooted in the Constitution and instead was created in the Supreme Court’s landmark 1964 decision in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan.
ISRAELI PM NETANYAHU INITIATING DEFAMATION LAWSUIT AGAINST NEW YORK TIMES OVER CONTROVERSIAL ‘DOG RAPE’ STORY
«Predictably, Dershowitz did not prevail under that exacting standard, which this Court created in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. Dershowitz now asks this Court to overrule Sullivan and related precedents,» the conservatives wrote.
Dershowitz also reacted to the dissent in remarks to Fox News Digital, calling the majority’s standard «impossible» to overcome.
«All the judges agreed that CNN lied about me,» he said Monday.
«But the majority ruled, over dissents, that I had to prove actual malice by clear and convincing evidence— an impossible standard that I believe will be overruled in years to come.»
The Sullivan case arose after a Montgomery, Alabama, commissioner sued the Times for libel over a full-page advertisement criticizing how the city treated civil rights protesters.
An Alabama jury awarded damages to L.B. Sullivan even though he was not mentioned by name in the ad. The Supreme Court later reversed the ruling, holding that a public official cannot prevail in a defamation case unless he proves the statement was made with «actual malice» — knowing it was false or acting with reckless disregard for the truth.
«The actual-malice standard for public figures bears no relation to the text, history, or structure of the Constitution,» Thomas and Gorsuch wrote Monday in Dershowitz’ case.
«Instead, the founding generation believed that, if anything, public figures had stronger claims for damages when they were defamed.»
As one historical example, Thomas and Gorsuch pointed to the Sedition Act of 1798, which imposed a far lower threshold for defamatory statements about public officials.
Then-Rep. Matthew Lyon, D-Vt., was prosecuted under the law for characterizing President John Adams as someone with «unbounded thirst for ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation and selfish avarice» during American tensions with France.
JUDGE DISMISSES TRUMP’S $10B DEFAMATION LAWSUIT AGAINST THE WALL STREET JOURNAL OVER EPSTEIN STORY
President Thomas Jefferson allowed that law to expire in 1801 and pardoned many caught in its net.
More recently, Trump has called for loosening U.S. libel laws, echoing concerns similar to those expressed by Thomas and Gorsuch about the court’s defamation jurisprudence.
While running for president in 2016, Trump pledged to «open up our libel laws» if elected to pursue the ideological conglomerate he often labels «fake news.»
SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER
Journalists who «write purposefully negative and horrible and false articles — we can sue them and win lots of money,» Trump said.
He has often singled out defendant CNN more than most – famously warring regularly with its then-White House correspondent, podcaster Jim Acosta.
During one 2017 incident, Acosta repeatedly interrupted Trump during a news conference, leading the president to demand he not «be rude.».» Trump informed Acosta that he would not be taking a question from him because «you are fake news.»
Supreme Court Associate Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas wait to leave the stage after the inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/AFP via Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
«We’re going to open up libel laws, and we’re going to have people sue you like you’ve never got sued before,» Trump said at the 2016 event, going on to further name-drop the Times and Washington Post.
The ruling, along with Trump’s own lawsuit against the Ted Turner-founded network over its use of the term «Big Lie» to describe his claims about the 2020 election, leaves open the possibility that the court could revisit Sullivan, though such a shift appears unlikely in the near term.
Fox News Digital reached out to CNN for comment on the dissent.
first amendment, politics, federal courts, donald trump, judiciary, media, supreme court
INTERNACIONAL
Descubren cómo una proteína cerebral expande la enfermedad de Alzheimer de neurona a neurona
Científicos de los Estados Unidos descubrieron que una proteína cerebral llamada Arc transporta la Tau tóxica, la sustancia que destruye neuronas en Alzheimer, desde células enfermas a células sanas y acelera así el avance de la enfermedad.
El hallazgo, publicado en la revista Cell, puede cambiar la forma de entender cómo progresa el Alzheimer y abre una vía para frenarlo.
Ese trastorno es la forma más frecuente de demencia: destruye las neuronas del cerebro de manera progresiva y afecta la memoria, el lenguaje y la capacidad de realizar tareas cotidianas.
La proteína Tau, que en condiciones normales ayuda a mantener la estructura interna de las neuronas, se deforma en esta enfermedad, se vuelve tóxica y forma grumos que matan las células.
Se estima que más de 55 millones de personas viven con demencia en el mundo, según la organización Alzheimer’s Disease International (ADI). Alzheimer representa cerca del 70% de esos casos.
Arc: el mensajero con un pasajero clandestino
Arc tiene una función normal y vital: empaqueta información dentro de pequeñas burbujas llamadas vesículas extracelulares —algo así como sobres microscópicos— y las envía de neurona en neurona. El problema surge cuando la Tau tóxica se cuela dentro de esos “sobres” y viaja con ellos hacia células que aún están sanas.
Mitali Tyagi, investigadora de la Universidad de Washington en St. Louis y primera autora del estudio, comparó las acumulaciones de Tau con “monstruos de pegamento” porque, “se pegan entre sí y bloquean el transporte dentro de la neurona”.
Pero también se fragmentan en piezas menores que migran a nuevas células y corrompen la Tau sana que encuentran allí.
El equipo comparó ratones con Alzheimer que tenían Arc con ratones que carecían de ella. En los segundos, las vesículas extracelulares contenían apenas rastros de Tau tóxica y ya no podían dañar neuronas sanas.
“Cuando eliminamos Arc, vimos que la transferencia de Tau se redujo de manera drástica. Casi desapareció”, afirmó la científica.
Arc presenta un dilema: aunque facilita el avance de la enfermedad, también protege a las neuronas enfermas en etapas tempranas al expulsar el exceso de Tau hacia afuera. Sin esa válvula de escape, las células enfermas mueren más rápido.
Eliminar Arc de raíz, entonces, no sería la solución. El equipo apunta a algo más preciso: interceptar las vesículas con Tau tóxica después de que salen de la neurona enferma, pero antes de que lleguen a una sana.
Esa ventana —entre la expulsión y la infección— es donde los investigadores ven la mayor oportunidad terapéutica.
Ahora se sabe que Arc cumple un papel doble: propaga la enfermedad pero también protege a las neuronas enfermas en etapas tempranas. El gran desafío es cómo diseñar una terapia que bloquee su efecto dañino sin eliminar su función protectora.
Desde los Estados Unidos, el doctor Jason Shepherd, profesor de neurobiología de la Universidad de Utah y autor principal del estudio, contestó a Infobae: “Creemos que la clave está en intervenir sobre el momento en que las neuronas vecinas absorben la Tau que viene dentro de las vesículas extracelulares. Si logramos bloquear esa absorción, las células enfermas seguirían expulsando su exceso de Tau —y así se protegerían— pero la Tau tóxica ya no podría entrar en las células sanas. Eso detendría la propagación sin eliminar el efecto protector de Arc».
Para pacientes con Alzheimer en etapa temprana, detener ese tráfico podría frenar el deterioro cognitivo futuro.
Una terapia de ese tipo no repararía el daño ya existente en el cerebro, pero podría evitar que la enfermedad avance hacia nuevas regiones. Para millones de pacientes en etapas iniciales, eso marcaría una diferencia real.
¿En qué plazo realista podría traducirse ese enfoque en un tratamiento para pacientes con Alzheimer en etapa temprana?, preguntó Infobae al doctor Shepherd. “Sí, esa es exactamente la idea. Todavía hay mucho por resolver y la mayor parte de este trabajo se realizó en ratones. El próximo paso es trabajar con células humanas y, a partir de ahí, avanzar hacia el desarrollo de fármacos. Ese camino llevará tiempo”, contestó.
El equipo también encontró vesículas con Arc y Tau en tejido cerebral humano, una pista de que el mecanismo podría operar de forma similar en personas.
Shepherd fue cauteloso al respecto: “La mayor parte del trabajo lo hemos hecho en ratones, no en humanos. Tenemos algunas pistas, pero aún no lo sabemos con certeza”.
En diálogo con Infobae, el doctor Ricardo Allegri, investigador del Conicet, jefe de neurología cognitiva de Fleni y director de la carrera de posgrado de Psicología con Orientación en Neurociencia de la Universidad Maimónides (UMAI), comentó sobre el nuevo estudio publicado en Cell.
“La hiperfosforilación de la proteína Tau desestabiliza los microtúbulos y lleva a la muerte neuronal. La patología Tau está directamente relacionada con la sintomatología del Alzheimer, a diferencia de la patología amiloide, que no lo está”, aclaró.
“Ya sabíamos que la Tau patológica se contagia de neurona a neurona siguiendo los circuitos funcionales neuronales. Pero no conocíamos cómo pasaba de una neurona a otra. El nuevo estudio aporta resultados en esa dirección”, resaltó.
“La proteína Arc interviene en la formación de las vesículas y en su volcado. Este hallazgo es sumamente importante porque, si podemos intervenir sobre este mecanismo, podríamos frenar el avance de la enfermedad y sus síntomas”, sostuvo el doctor Allegri.
El estudio contó con financiamiento de los Institutos Nacionales de Salud (NIH), la Asociación de Alzheimer y la Iniciativa Chan-Zuckerberg, entre otras organizaciones.
Detectar la enfermedad en sus primeras etapas es la mejor forma de actuar antes de que el daño se extienda. Las señales de alerta más frecuentes son la pérdida de memoria reciente, la dificultad para encontrar palabras, la desorientación en lugares conocidos y los cambios repentinos de humor o personalidad.
Ante esos síntomas, la recomendación de los especialistas es consultar a un médico clínico o neurólogo sin demora.
Un diagnóstico temprano permite iniciar tratamientos que, aunque no curan la enfermedad, pueden ralentizar su progresión y mejorar la calidad de vida del paciente y su entorno.
adult,checkup,clinic,computer,corridor,ct,diagnosis,diagnostic,discussion,doctor,equipment,exam,examination,expertise,explaining,health,healthcare,healthy,hospital,illness,man,medic,medical,medicine,monitor,mri,occupation,patient,radiologist,radiology,ray,scan,senior,sick,treatment,uniform,visit,wheelchair,woman,women,work,workplace,x-ray,xray,young,young adult
Quién es Nicolás Trombino, el nuevo novio de Jesica Cirio, al que sumaron a la investigación judicial
Qué dijo Diego Santilli sobre su designación como jefe de Gabinete y sobre la salida de Manuel Adorni
Invertir en Inteligencia Artificial sin ser experto: cómo funcionan los fondos ETF
La meditación salvó su carrera en el tenis y ahora entrena jóvenes mientras patrulla las calles de Tailandia
Huida de película: escapó de China en un gomón y con un celular casi sin batería y llegó a Canadá
Thomas, Gorsuch target landmark ruling Trump says protects the ‘fake news’
El punto de quiebre que sentó la suerte de Manuel Adorni y los preparativos que hace el Gobierno ante su inminente salida
La bomba de Nico Occhiato tras el escándalo de Florencia Peña con Messi: “Lo más groso que pudimos haber logrado”
Una escena estremecedora: el dato más doloroso de los minutos posteriores a la muerte de Ernestina Pais
Cómo ganar $20 millones con Mercado Pago: el paso a paso para quienes cobran ANSES
POLITICA2 días agoEl punto de quiebre que sentó la suerte de Manuel Adorni y los preparativos que hace el Gobierno ante su inminente salida
- CHIMENTOS2 días ago
La bomba de Nico Occhiato tras el escándalo de Florencia Peña con Messi: “Lo más groso que pudimos haber logrado”
- CHIMENTOS2 días ago
Una escena estremecedora: el dato más doloroso de los minutos posteriores a la muerte de Ernestina Pais
