The Justice Department announced on Tuesday that a grand jury in Alabama returned an indictment charging the Southern Poverty Law Center with 11 counts of wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering.

Democrats are by now no doubt accustomed to hearing that many of the activists driving their agenda on the left are crooked; however, the SPLC is not merely accused of corruption.

'It should send a chill down the spine of every American.'

Rather, it has been credibly accused of bankrolling leaders and organizers in the very extremist groups it claimed to be fighting — including the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation, the American Front, United Klans of America, the National Socialist Party of America, and the National Alliance — as well as having a hand in the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

"The SPLC is manufacturing racism to justify its existence," stated acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Despite this alleged betrayal of donors and fellow travelers alike, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Democrat operatives have rallied to the hate racket's defense.

Schumer said Wednesday on the floor of the U.S. Senate that the "deeply disturbing charges" brought against the SPLC "should send a chill down the spine of every American who cares about free expression and the rule of law in the Justice Department. It should send a chill down the spine of every American who cares about civil liberties and the fight against violent extremism."

RELATED: History of violence: How the SPLC's demonization racket helped set the stage for at least 1 shooting

L-R: Evelyn Hockstein/The Washington Post/Getty Images; Nathan Posner/Anadolu/Getty Images

Contrary to Schumer's suggestion, Americans keen on fighting violent extremism might be delighted to learn that the Justice Department has targeted an alleged financial crutch holding up violent bigots across the country.

The indictment against the SPLC alleges that between 2014 and 2023, the organization — which raked in over $106.47 million in contributions in fiscal year 2024 alone — "secretly funneled more than $3 million in SPLC funds to [field sources] who were associated with various violent extremist groups."

"Let's be clear what this case is ... really about," said Schumer. "It has nothing to do with alleged wire fraud or with the Southern Poverty Law Center somehow working in coordination with the KKK. That's ridiculous on its face. It doesn't pass the laugh test."

'This is core to counter-extremism work.'

Schumer claimed that the case against the SPLC is ultimately about President Donald Trump turning the DOJ into the "Department of Vengeance — his own attack dog."

The deeply unpopular Democrat suggested further that this case demonstrates that the administration is targeting opponents of "white supremacy" and "turning what America is all about inside out."

Schumer was hardly the only Democrat associate to dismiss the possibility that the SPLC was keeping the illusion of formidable hatred alive in order to continue bilking deep-pocketed donors.

RELATED: SPLC indictment BOMBSHELL: Charlottesville violence allegedly was a leftist-funded 'false flag'

Acting AG Todd Blanche. Mandel NGAN/AFP/Getty Images

Norman Eisen, a Democrat operative who served as special counsel to former President Barack Obama, suggested in a joint statement with Richard Painter — former associate counsel to former President George W. Bush — and Virginia Canter — former associate counsel to former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama — that the SPLC wasn't bankrolling its purported foes but rather "paying informants to expose and prevent violence by the KKK, neo-Nazis, and other hate groups."

"This is core to counter-extremism work, and it’s exactly what the DOJ and FBI should be doing — not attacking legendary civil rights organizations," wrote the trio.

"SPLC is ideologically opposed to hate groups and hate crimes. We stand with SPLC and will support them in every way."

Maya Wiley, CEO of the D.C.-based liberal organization Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, characterized the effort to hold the SPLC to account as retaliation over the liberal hate racket's alleged work protecting people from hatred.

"What is happening to civil rights organizations right now is the most coordinated assault on our sector since COINTELPRO," said Wiley.

"In order to have absolute power, [the Trump administration] must dismantle our rights. And that’s why they’re coming after us."

'They have made no secret of who they want to protect.'

"The Southern Poverty Law Center has spent decades doing that work, and we stand with them," added Wiley, who previously served as counsel to Democrat New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The American Constitution Society, a liberal activist group that has received funding from the Tides Nexus and George Soros' Open Society Foundations, joined the gaslighting campaign, framing the indictment as an attack by the administration motivated by a difference of opinion on policy and politics.

"This is a clear abuse of power," stated the ACS. "The American Constitution Society stands in solidarity with SPLC and all of our partners working to uphold the rule of law, strengthen our democratic legitimacy, and realize the promise of equality for all."

SPLC CEO Bryan Fair said in a video statement this week, "For 55 years, the Southern Poverty Law Center has stood as a beacon of hope, fighting white supremacy and various forms of injustice to create a multiracial democracy where we can all live and thrive."

"We are therefore unsurprised to be the latest organization targeted by this administration," continued Fair. "They have made no secret of who they want to protect and who they want to destroy."

Fair suggested that the field sources referred to in the indictment were "paid confidential informants" tasked with gathering "credible intelligence on extremely violent groups." He said the SPLC no longer works with such informants.

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