Defendant, Censor, Politico, Spy

About this episode

The episode discusses the involvement of non-profits in campaign infrastructure interference during a U.S. election.

The improbable but true story of how non-profits operating a private intelligence agency to combat terrorism decided to interfere with campaign infrastructure in a U.S. election. This piece includes original public interest reporting, following on the previous episode on how the Southern Poverty Law Center became financial infrastructure . If you have previously read Bits about Money's reporting on this subject, note there are two major additions here: 1) direct evidence of interference in campaign infrastructure for a declared candidate in a U.S. election, which was newly developed after our original reporting and 2) responses (and lack thereof) from the non-profits at issue. – Full transcript available here: www.complexsystemspodcast.com/defendant-censor-politico-spy/ – Presenting Sponsors: Mercury , Granola & Meter Complex Systems is presented by Mercury—radically better banking for founders. Mercury offers the best wire experience anywhere: fast, reliable, and free for domestic U.S. wires, so you can stay focused on growing your business. Apply online in minutes at mercury.com . If meetings consistently leave you with hazy action items and lost context, Granola handles…

People in this episode

Host: Patrick McKenzie

Topics covered

• private intelligence
• campaign interference
• non-profits
• terrorism
• U.S. election
• public interest reporting

Keywords

• intelligence agency
• terrorism
• campaign infrastructure
• public interest
• Southern Poverty Law Center
• non-profits
• U.S. election

Sponsors

Mercury, Granola, Meter

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Southern Poverty Law Center

More episodes of Complex Systems with Patrick McKenzie (patio11)

• How brokerage transfers actually work · June 4, 2026 · 44 min
• Wrong numbers and why they survive, with Aaron Brown · May 14, 2026 · 56 min
• How the SPLC became financial infrastructure · May 1, 2026 · 51 min
• The honey badger of payments · April 23, 2026 · 30 min
• Cash received is not revenue earned · April 16, 2026 · 33 min
• Your bank balance isn’t in the bank, and other alchemy · April 9, 2026 · 48 min