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SPLC asks judge to subpoena DOJ informant in fraud case
Southern Poverty Law Center lawyers told a court Wednesday that Justice Department investigators have treated a former informant as if he were part of the prosecution team, CBS News reported.
- New headline Was: “SPLC alleges DOJ is treating witness as a member of prosecution team”
- Our desk filed its story
Lawyers for the Southern Poverty Law Center asked a federal judge Wednesday to let them subpoena a former informant who has given material to the Justice Department, saying investigators have treated the witness as if he were part of the prosecution team1.
Defense attorneys said the government obtained documents, recordings and intelligence briefings, including PowerPoint presentations, from the source known as F-9 without a subpoena or search warrant1. They asked the court to order the informant to preserve original documents and to allow SPLC lawyers to subpoena him1.
SPLC has been indicted on 11 counts of wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering; prosecutors alleged it defrauded donors and banks through shell accounts1. The group has pleaded not guilty1. Former executive Heidi Beirich was later charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to submit false statements to a federally insured bank and has also pleaded not guilty1.
The indictment alleged Beirich had a romantic relationship with F-9, whom prosecutors described as an SPLC informant who infiltrated the neo-Nazi group National Alliance1. According to the defense filing, F-9 faced a potential tax prosecution for unpaid income tax when he began cooperating1. He spoke with investigators in March 2022; that inquiry closed without charges, then talks resumed in 2025 when the case was revived, the lawyers said1.
The filing said that since November 2025, F-9 has met with the government more than 20 times, including at least four in-person meetings, and exchanged about 1,800 text messages with lead FBI and IRS agents1. SPLC lawyers Abbe Lowell and Addy Schmitt said in a statement that the informant faced possible criminal exposure, blamed SPLC for financial problems, and received broad immunity1. CBS News said it had reached out to the Justice Department for comment1.
