Civil rights group says federal charges are political

Civil rights group says federal charges are political

From The NPR Politics Podcast by NPR

April 23, 2026 · 17 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the federal charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center and the political implications behind them.

The Justice Department has charged the Southern Poverty Law Center, a prominent civil rights organization, with several financial crimes. We discuss what the group is accused of and why it became a target of the Trump administration. This episode: senior political correspondent Tamara Keith, domestic extremism correspondent Odette Yousef, and justice correspondent Ryan Lucas. This podcast was produced by Casey Morell and Bria Suggs, and edited by Rachel Baye. Our executive producer is Muthoni Muturi. Listen to every episode of the NPR Politics Podcast sponsor-free, unlock access to bonus episodes with more from the NPR Politics team, and support public media when you sign up for The NPR Politics Podcast+ at plus.npr.org/politics . See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy

People in this episode

Host: Tamara Keith

Guests: Odette Yousef, Ryan Lucas

Topics covered

  • civil rights
  • financial crimes
  • political charges
  • Trump administration
  • Southern Poverty Law Center
  • Justice Department
  • domestic extremism

Keywords

  • Southern Poverty Law Center
  • Justice Department
  • financial crimes
  • Trump administration
  • civil rights
  • political charges
  • domestic extremism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Southern Poverty Law Center, Justice Department, Trump administration

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