So the SPLC was in bed with neo-Nazi informants – literally
We already knew that the allegations were that the SPLC was paying informants to drum up “business” – the race-hatred business that is – in order to help convince donors that racism was very active in the US. We already knew that the organization created dummy entities to receive payments, in order to hide the fact.
But we didn’t know these details about Heidi Beirich, who was the CFO of the SPLC and was recently arrested for fraud [my emphasis]:
A former employee of the Southern Poverty Law Center has been arrested in California on charges that she oversaw secret payments to informants inside of White supremacist groups, one of whom she was allegedly living with and had a romantic relationship with at the time. …
Beirich allegedly “oversaw payments of donors’ money” to people inside of these hate groups, according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday. She also allegedly shared a bank account with one of those sources, which included funds from the SPLC’s payments. …
Despite her role in overseeing the payments — some of which were directed to an Imperial Wizard in the KKK — Beirich allegedly had a romantic relationship with one source who infiltrated a White Supremacy group and stole documents for the SPLC, according to the indictment.
That person, prosecutors say, was paid over $1 million by the SPLC since 2007 – $140,000 of which was put into a bank account that Beirich and the person shared. Beirich allegedly used that money to pay for their personal living expenses.
The documents that person allegedly stole were used as part of an article that the SPLC later published. Beirich then allegedly paid a second informant $6,000 to take the fall for the stolen documents.
“Dr. Beirich is innocent, and this case is without merit,” her attorney, Michael J. Proctor said in a statement. “We believe the charges against her and the SPLC are politically motivated …
The SPLC itself is above politics, of course, dedicated only to truth, justice, and the American way.
Wonder what Beirich was a “Dr.” of?!
She has a PhD in Political Science from Purdue. She was supposedly an expert on the American and European “far right”.
The role of the Constitutional Tribunal in Spanish politics (1980-1995)
Heidi Ly Beirich, Purdue University
Abstract
In 1980, a Constitutional Tribunal was established in Spain. Its ability to exercise the power of constitutional review greatly increased the strength of the judicial branch in the Spanish political system. This dissertation examines how the addition of this body to the political architecture affected the overall distribution of power in the Spanish democratic system. As part of this study, a detailed analysis is made as well of an often overlooked theoretical issue—the relationship between powerful high courts and the ability of third wave democracies to uphold the supremacy of the constitution. ….
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/dissertations/AAI9939315/
(And now, your day is complete.)
The SPLC paid neo-Nazi provocateurs to cause trouble.
I don’t know why folks think they were informants.