In response to federal fraud charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center, President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social calling for the 2020 presidential election results to be 'permanently wiped from the books' if the allegations prove true.
The call came days after a federal grand jury in Alabama indicted the SPLC on multiple counts of wire fraud and related charges for allegedly paying over $3 million to informants in white supremacist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan and one involved in organizing the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia (see prior coverage in this series). Trump, who has long claimed the 2020 election was stolen, labeled the SPLC 'one of the greatest political scams in American history' and tied it to other alleged 'Democrat Hoaxes' like Act Blue. 'If it is true, the 2020 Presidential Election should be permanently wiped from the books and be of no further force or effect!' he wrote Friday morning. The SPLC, known for monitoring hate groups but criticized for its political alignments and past FBI influence, faces scrutiny over donor funds allegedly misused to fund extremists it claimed to oppose. FBI Director Kash Patel had previously cut ties with the group.