Maryland Attorney General Joins Coalition Urging Review of Funding Pauses to Southern Poverty Law Center

Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown, alongside a coalition of 15 other state attorneys general, has issued a call to major donor-advised fund sponsors to reassess their decisions to halt payments to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). This action follows the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent indictment of the civil rights nonprofit, an indictment that has drawn significant controversy. The coalition has expressed concerns that these financial institutions might inadvertently aid the current administration in targeting organizations for exercising their First Amendment rights.

According to Brown, the Southern Poverty Law Center is recognized for its work in opposing white supremacist groups and other hate organizations. The coalition claims SPLC utilizes paid informants to gather intelligence on the activities of these groups, information that is then employed to disrupt their operations. This method of using confidential informants is also a common practice among law enforcement agencies. Despite this, the Department of Justice initiated an indictment against the SPLC on April 21, 2026, alleging that payments to confidential informants constitute donor fraud. In the wake of this indictment, several prominent donor-advised fund sponsors, including the Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program, and Donor Advised Charitable Giving, Inc., have either restricted or completely stopped their financial contributions to the SPLC.

In their correspondence to these financial institutions, the coalition of attorneys general highlighted the Trump administration’s documented history of targeting nonprofits and charitable organizations perceived as being in opposition to President Trump’s political agenda. The letter also referenced recent whistleblower accounts suggesting that the Department of Justice allegedly pressured prosecutors to secure swift indictments against the SPLC, even when those prosecutors harbored reservations. The attorneys general contend that allowing politically motivated prosecutions to serve as a pretext for suppressing, chilling, or dismantling organizations dedicated to civil rights, public safety, and democratic principles, simply because they are exercising their constitutionally protected First Amendment rights, would be detrimental.

The coalition voiced particular concern over the fund sponsors’ refusal to disclose other nonprofits to whom they have also paused donations. This lack of transparency amplifies worries that these sponsors may be facilitating the administration’s apparent campaign of discrimination. The attorneys general concluded their letter by urging the fund sponsors to carefully consider the potential ramifications of their actions. They cautioned that these decisions could undermine the original intentions of donors and inadvertently empower the Trump administration to leverage governmental power against nonprofit organizations that are merely exercising their protected First Amendment rights. The coalition that joined Attorney General Brown in this communication includes the attorneys general from Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.

Article by Mel Anara, based upon information from the Maryland Attorney General’s Office.

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