Patel, civil rights activist rip SPLC after DOJ alleges group funded the 'villains' they claimed to fight
New DOJ allegations against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) drew sharp criticism from FBI Director Kash Patel and civil rights activist Bob Woodson, who said the case appeared to show the group that claims to fight extremism was instead helping fuel it.
In an exclusive interview on "Hannity" Wednesday, Patel called the case the "ultimate definition of hypocrisy."
"The Southern Poverty Law Center ran a methodical, calculated scheme to defraud their donor base of $3 million and lied to them and used an illicit banking structure system to create shell companies to hide their money and who it was being sent to, specifically for the reason to sow discord and hate into our society."
He contended that the indictment against the SPLC claims the organization funded at least eight hate groups that it supposedly wanted to eliminate.
"They were paying the very villains of our society they supposedly want to protect us from," he said.
Woodson, founder of the Woodson Center, a nonprofit seeking to empower community leaders to reduce crime and revitalize underserved communities, said Wednesday on "The Will Cain Show" that charges against the SPLC were "just the tip of the iceberg."
People who claim to fight for civil rights can become corrupt when "they ask which problems are fundable, not which ones are solvable," Woodson continued.
He said so-called civil rights organizations' emphasis on grievances and greed is "much more insidious than what you're witnessing here," asserting that the biggest challenge to low-income communities is not race relations, but rather "the disintegration of these communities as a consequence of the neglect of those who are supposed to be in charge."
SPLC SAW REVENUE SURGE AFTER CHARLOTTESVILLE RALLY AS DOJ ALLEGES INFORMANT TIES
"The greatest suppressor, for instance, of the votes in these communities is not voter ID. It's apathy. Less than 10% of low-income Blacks in these high-crime areas around the country even come out the vote because they don't believe that the people who are in office represent them," Woodson said.
Patel and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced a sweeping indictment Tuesday against the SPLC, accusing the far-left nonprofit of fraudulently paying more than $3 million in donations to at least eight individuals associated with violent extremist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, United Klans of America, the Nationalist Socialist Movement, Unite the Right, Aryan Nations-affiliated Sadistic Souls Motorcycle Club and more.
SPLC's CEO Bryan Fair addressed the probe in a video message posted online, arguing the Trump administration has "made no secret who they want to protect and who they want to destroy."
In a subsequent statement from Fair sent to Fox News Digital, he added in part that he was "outraged by the false allegations levied against SPLC" and that its work monitoring extremist groups "saved lives."
"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," Fair continued in his comment to Fox News Digital. "SPLC will vigorously defend ourselves, our staff and our work; we will continue to fight hate; and we will continue to envision and create a safer and more just world."
Fox News Digital's Alexandra Koch, David Spunt, Jake Gibson and Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.