SPLC's Heidi Beirich Charged

Former Southern Poverty Law Center official Heidi Beirich, 59, was arrested in California after a federal grand jury in Montgomery, Alabama, charged her in a superseding indictment tied to the Justice Department’s fraud case against the organization. Prosecutors charged Beirich with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to submit false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to conceal money laundering. The indictment alleges she oversaw donor-funded payments to informants embedded in white supremacist and other extremist groups. One paid informant was allegedly her romantic partner, and prosecutors say some money supported extremist activities.