How mutiny at Southern Poverty Law Center triggered leadership collapse

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The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is facingfederal fraud allegationsless than a year after a staff mutiny triggered a leadership shakeup that has plagued the organization ever since.

TheJustice Departmenthas accused the self-styled civil rights nonprofit of using paid informants to infiltrate extremist groups and funneling money to extremist groups — claims the organization is now forcefully disputing.

Margaret Huang, who led SPLC, resigned last July after 92% of staff backed a no-confidence vote months earlier, according to TheLas Vegas Sun.The center laid off about 80 employees — about 25% of its workforce — in June 2024, the outlet reported.

Huangsaidshe stepped down because she could not both care for her parents and meet the demands of the job, while the SPLC said at the time she left after five years at the helm “to prioritize family life.”

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Margaret Huang standing and smiling at an event

SPLC President Margaret Huang attends the Art For Amnesty Pre-Golden Globes Recognition Brunch in Los Angeles on Jan.8, 2016.(Rob Latour/Variety/Penske Media)

The leadership rupture exposed deep tensions between staff and senior management at the Montgomery, Alabama-based group, which is known for civil rights litigation and racial justice advocacy.

Bryan Fair, a constitutionallawprofessor at the University of Alabama and former chair of the SPLC board, stepped in as interim president and CEO following Huang’s departure.

Fair has since taken charge of the organization’s response to the Justice Department’s allegations.The group faces federal charges, including wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering tied to its past use of paid informants.

“This use of informants was necessary because we are no stranger to threats of violence,” Fair said in a video message this week, pushing back on the allegations andframing the investigation as politicallymotivated.

“For 55 years, the Southern Poverty Law Center has stood as a beacon of hope, fighting white supremacy and various forms of injustice to create a multiracial democracy where we can all live and thrive.We are therefore unsurprised to be the latest organization targeted by this administration.”

He added that the SPLC “frequentlyshared what we learned frominformants with local and federal law enforcement, including the FBI.”

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Bryan Fair speaks at a podium during a ceremony at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama.

SPLC interim President and CEO Bryan Fair speaks during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Southern Poverty Law Center Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Ala., on March 5, 2026.(Jake Crandall/Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

“We will vigorously defend ourselves, our staff and our work,” Fair said.

Huang’s high-profile departure marked the latest leadership turmoil at the SPLC.

The organization underwent a major upheaval in 2019 when it fired co-founder and chief trial counsel Morris Dees and removed him from its board, according to the SPLC, triggering a broader restructuring.

That overhaul led to Huang becoming the organization’s first permanent president and CEO under a new leadership model, according to the SPLC.Huang currently serves as a senior advisor at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition of civil rights organizations.

Dees’ dismissal followed internal allegations of misconduct and workplace culture concerns, including claims ofracial discriminationand harassment, according to multiple reports.He was not charged with any crime.

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Todd Blanche speaks at Justice Department press conference with FBI Director Kash Patel.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche spoke during a press conference alongside FBI Director Kash Patel at the Department of Justice on April 21, 2026, in Washington, D.C., following the indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center.(Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Dees co-founded the SPLC in 1971 with civil rights attorney Joseph Levin Jr., while civil rights leader Julian Bond served as its first president.

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