A federal judge on Friday denied the Southern Poverty Law Center’s bid to toss the criminal indictment on vindictive prosecution.
In May, the SPLC filed a motion arguing vindictive prosecution.
The hate group argued that the charges brought against them were a result of targeting by the DOJ and violated the organization’s right to due process.
US District Judge Emily Marks, a Trump appointee of the US District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, said it is just speculation that President Trump and Justice Department officials had a role in the criminal indictment.
“The SPLC has failed to offer some evidence tending to show animus on the part of the prosecutors involved in bringing this case and that such animus resulted in the prosecution, the showing required for discovery. Because it cannot satisfy that standard, it necessarily fails to satisfy the higher standard that would entitle it to dismissal of the indictment. Accordingly, the SPLC’s motion is due to be denied,” the judge wrote in a 36-page opinion reviewed by The Gateway Pundit.
The Justice Department in April indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center on 11 counts, including wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.
The SPLC was indicted for secretly funneling more than $3 million in funds to members of white supremacist and extremist groups, the DOJ said.
Hellbound and Down 