Texas attorney general opens investigation into SPLC funding of extremist groups

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Monday his office has opened a civil investigation into the Southern Poverty Law Center, accusing the organization of misleading donors while funding violent extremist groups it publicly opposed.

The Texas release says the probe concerns possible violations of state law tied to deceptive fundraising claims. Fox 26 Houston reported that the attorney general’s office issued a civil investigative demand as part of the inquiry.

The move adds Texas to a growing state-level pressure campaign against the SPLC after a federal grand jury indictment in April accused the group of wire fraud, false statements and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The U.S. Department of Justice said the federal case involved payments to informants inside extremist groups.

Alabama’s attorney general announced a separate civil probe of the SPLC’s fundraising practices earlier this month, according to the Associated Press.

The SPLC has disputed the federal allegations and said its informant program was used to monitor threats and share information with law enforcement. Texas officials are framing the same conduct as a donor deception matter, but that characterization remains contested.

The Texas investigation is a new enforcement action, not a fresh allegation about the underlying federal case. The immediate question is what records the civil investigative demand seeks and whether Texas will identify additional evidence beyond the federal indictment and prior DOJ allegations.