The Department of Justice hurt its own case against the Southern Poverty Law Center with a poor choice of words, with a legal expert calling the indictment “particularly weak” on its face.
“What makes this all highly problematic is an apparent gaffe in the charging language,” legal expert Andrew Weissmann wrote in a Saturday piece for Just Security.
Weissman pointed out that the indictment carelessly alleged the SPLC made “misleading” statements to defraud banks and set up accounts to fund racist groups like the KKK. The lack of specifics and relying on accusations of misleading statements “is insufficient to prove guilt,” according to Weissman.
“The government may have proof of false statements, but if it was counting on using misleading statements to meet its burden to establish the charges beyond a reasonable doubt, it is in for a surprise,” Weissman wrote.
The main actors driving the case, acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel, lack “deep experience in financial investigations” and found the allegations “exceedingly far-fetched,” he added.
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