SPLC asks judge to dismiss indictment, alleges vindictive prosecution

newsMay 26, 2026183,356

The Southern Poverty Law Center asked a federal judge in the Middle District of Alabama to dismiss its indictment, arguing the Department of Justice pursued the case as a top-down, retaliatory campaign directed by former president Donald Trump. The SPLC's supporting memorandum cites Trump's "triumphant" statement three days after the charges were unsealed and points to grand jury misconduct in the Broadview Six prosecution as part of its evidence. The motion seeks dismissal and disclosure of sealed grand jury materials, a ruling that could undermine the DOJ's prosecutorial strategy and affect other Trump-era cases if courts accept the SPLC's vindictive prosecution theory.

Chris Geidner

@chrisgeidner.bsky.social

BREAKING: SPLC seeks to have indictment tossed, arguing DOJ is engaged in an impermissible — and unconstitutional — vindictive prosecution. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Case No. 2:26-cr-0139-ECM-KFP-1
ORAL ARGUMENT
REQUESTED
THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW
CENTER, INC.
Defendant.
THE SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER'S
MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF ITS MOTION TO DISMISS THE INDICTMENT FOR VINDICTIVE PROSECUTION

130453d ago

Chris Geidner89

Background on the case at Law Dork: www.lawdork.com/p/splc-indic...

Chris⚖️Justice10

💯 And there is a pattern of this abuse by DOJ

Cato Young4

Abbe David Lowell is their counsel, that’s a heavy hitter to have on their side. Im glad they have good representation.

jakeofnotrades.bsky.social3

Having this motion granted might be the best thing for DOJ. Seems like this prosecution is so ridiculous that AUSAs could face serious sanctions for bringing it.

Justice 🇺🇦2

Vindictive Prosecution defined is DOJ weaponization of the government. SPLC @splcenter.org

Netty Bo Betty2

We keep seeing this kind of incompetence…will there be any repercussions?!

Jenny Sampson 🇮🇪 🇪🇺2

Good. After the Abrego Garcia case, followed by the Broadview 6 case, there’s ample reason to doubt this DOJ

Adam Klasfeld

@klasfeldreports.com

NOTABLE: The SPLC alerts a federal judge in a footnote of its vindictive prosecution motion to the Trump Justice Department's grand jury misconduct in the Broadview Six case, arguing that it's another reason for sunlight on the sealed transcripts.

103153d ago

briween20

don't take the SPLC to court unless you wanna get wrecked son

David8

The corruption of the DOJ is astounding. cbwrong.blogspot.com?m=1

dibbydibbydum.bsky.social4

So will SPLC get to draw from the $1.7 billion slush fund?

Roger Parloff

@rparloff.bsky.social

Trump's whacked out claims about @splcenter.org being "a part of the rigging of the [2020] election" are front and center in SPLC's motion to dismiss for vindictive prosecution.

Then, after praising the indictment his Justice Department handed him,
President Trump went further. He publicly proclaimed the improper political motive
behind the case, branding the SPLC a “Democrat Hoax, along with Act Blue and
many others” and claimed that when the allegations are proven “the 2020
Presidential Election should be permanently wiped from the books and be of no
further force or effect!” 2 President Trump doubled down on these farcical claims on
a nationally televised 60 Minutes interview a few days later. He falsely proclaimed
that the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Virginia “was all funded by
the Southern [Poverty] Law [Center].”3 President Trump asserted that the SPLC had
funded this “total fake” event “to make me look bad.”4 The SPLC’s efforts,
according to the President, were “a part of the rigging of the [2020] election.”5

55153d ago

Laura Case7

He is so fucking tiresome.

justice4all00.bsky.social2

Most popular Presidential candidate EVER….by far!

Liz Dye

@lizdye.bsky.social

BREAKING: SPLC files motion to dismiss based on vindictive prosecution, alleging "top-down, retributive campaign in which [Trump] directed his Justice Department to go after those individuals and groups he deemed his political enemies, including the SPLC." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

INTRODUCTION
“The Southern Poverty Law Center, one of the greatest political scams in
American History, has been charged with FRAUD.”1

President Trump’s triumphant statement on April 24, 2026, three days after an
indictment was unsealed against the Southern Poverty Law Center (“the SPLC”),
was the latest manifestation of a top-down, retributive campaign in which he directed
his Justice Department to go after those individuals and groups he deemed his
political enemies, including the SPLC.
To carry out the President’s directive, others in the Administration targeted the
SPLC, which now faces criminal charges for exercising its First Amendment right
to identify, report on, and criticize extremist hate groups. The Administration has
falsely accused the SPLC of being “anti-Christian,” of aiding the Biden
Administration’s “weaponization” of the Department of Justice, of participating in
political violence, and, most recently, of helping to “rig” the 2020 election against
President Donald Trump. These examples of this Administration’s animus over the
past year culminated in the criminal charges against the SPLC—an indictment
premised on conclusory accusations but devoid of provable facts or a proper
statement of the law.
1
Donald J. Trump (@realDonalTrump), Truth Social (Apr. 24, 2026),
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/116457972455781406.

26853d ago

Innocent🕷Abroad4

In normal times, this motion would go nowhere. But now? Like, I could see some prosecutors or administrations going street SPLC on flimsy grounds. But judges still would have let them go to trial. With DOJ’s credibility shot & a record of widespread political prosecutions, that ain’t it anymore.

Josh Gerstein

@joshgerstein.bsky.social

JUST IN: Southern Poverty Law Center moves to dismiss criminal case as vindictive prosecution, leads off brief with social media post & quotes from Trump. Doc: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... Earlier: www.politico.com/news/2026/04... #SPLC

13553d ago

Julie DiCaro

@juliedicaro.bsky.social

The Southern Poverty Law Center has filed a motion to dismiss the DOJ indictment against it for vindictive prosecution. Waiting for the docs to hit CourtListener…

3153d ago

Virginia Scharff

@vscharff.bsky.social

The more vindictive prosecution dismissals there are, the more evidence that they're on a campaign of vindictive prosecutions that will result in more dismissals.

1153d ago

Jacob Wolman

@wolmania.com

Vindictive prosecution claims used to fail all the time but now they seem to be finding traction. One explanation is that judges all over the country, appointed and approved by Presidents and Senate majorities of both parties, hate Trump. Another explanation is that he's utterly corrupted the DOJ!

553d ago

Timothy McBride

@mcbridetd.bsky.social

Southern Poverty Law Center Accuses Justice Dept. of Vindictive Prosecution www.nytimes.com/2026/05/26/u...

453d ago

Darth Trump

@darthtrump.bsky.social

Day 490 on Time Out Felon-in-Chief declares himself in “good health” after Walter Reed—plans to send Americans exposed to Ebola to Kenya—wants federal workers signing NDAs. Iran threatens renewed strikes. Alabama’s House map unfair to Black voters. The SPLC accuses DOJ of vindictive prosecution.

253d ago

warrenotwasteland.bsky.social

@warrenotwasteland.bsky.social

Add this to the cascade of misconduct and vindictive prosecution arguments that will kill this DOJ lawyer’s cases and career. See “SPLC vs US”.

353d ago

LollyB

@rooksnest.bsky.social

The Southern Poverty Law Center has moved for a dismissal of all charges against them by the Trump administration, citing the president's recent comments as proof of vindictive prosecution and the precedent of another recent Trump case that just got thrown out. www.rawstory.com/trump-splc/

353d ago

bmaz

@bmaz.bsky.social

It is always vindictive prosecution. Never "selective prosecution". Glad some people have come to figure that out. Took some far too long.

353d ago

Innocent🕷Abroad

@jjgass.bsky.social

Do you know how hard it is to win a vindictive prosecution dismissal motion? And yet, Trump's DOJ lost the Ábrego case that way last week, & it's got a few others it might well lose. As soon as the lose the second one, we'll all paraphrase Oscar Wilde.

253d ago

Justice 🇺🇦

@loveon9.bsky.social

Vindictive Prosecution defined is DOJ weaponization of the government. SPLC @splcenter.org

253d ago

2 sources

nytimes.comSouthern Poverty Law Center Accuses Justice Dept. of Vindictive Prosecution abc3340.comSPLC Files Motion to Dismiss Charges, Alleges Vindictive Prosecution by DOJ

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SPLC asks judge to dismiss indictment, alleges vindictive prosecution

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