Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) over allegations that the nonprofit funneled money to violent extremist groups it publicly claimed to oppose.
The attorney general’s office is examining whether the SPLC engaged in deceptive donor solicitations and other potential violations of Texas law, according to a press release issued by the office on Monday. A Civil Investigative Demand has been served on the organization as part of the inquiry.
The SPLC has long described its mission as opposing “hate groups” and monitoring extremist activity, labeling a wide range of organizations as such.
In April 2026, the organization was indicted on federal fraud charges. The U.S. Department of Justice has alleged the SPLC improperly raised millions of dollars that were secretly funneled to leaders of the Ku Klux Klan and other groups.
More than $3 million was paid to individuals associated with those groups, according to the release. The SPLC has said the payments were intended to obtain insider information, but investigations have suggested some of the funds were used by extremists to commit additional crimes.
Donors were not told that their contributions could be used to support individuals affiliated with groups that the SPLC said it was working against, according to the Department of Justice.
Earlier this month, SPLC interim President and CEO Bryan Fair responded to the federal charges, stating on the organization’s website.
“The charges against the SPLC are provably wrong; they are based on inaccurate facts and a misapplication of law. Our informant program was successful in accomplishing its purposes: Threats and attacks were prevented, criminal activity was stopped, and information was gathered to dismantle the efforts of hate and extremist groups,” the statement reads. “There is no question that the information the SPLC shared with law enforcement saved lives.”
The organization has not yet responded to similar allegations Paxton made on Monday.
“The radical, woke SPLC was funding the very groups it was claiming to oppose. My office will ensure that the organization is held accountable for its blatant deception,” Paxton said in a news release. “Donors of the SPLC deserve to know if they have been manipulated into supporting a non-profit that gives millions of dollars to the KKK and other groups that they thought they were opposing.”
The investigation will seek to determine the scope of any deceptive solicitation practices, the attorney general’s office said.
