WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
  • A Treasury Department report identified the SPLC as a driving force behind debanking conservative organizations.
  • The OCC found that banks generally lacked quantifiable standards for judging customers’ reputational risk.
  • The Justice Department charged the SPLC over alleged donor fraud, while the organization denied wrongdoing.
  • Alliance Defending Freedom’s Matt Sharp called for accountability and praised state legislation targeting debanking.

A recent Treasury Department report says the Southern Poverty Law Center was a driving force behind the debanking of conservative organizations before the group’s indictment. The report came from the Office of the Comptroller of Currency and examined actions by banks, financial applications, and other institutions.

The SPLC is a left-wing advocacy organization focused on opposing racism. Conservatives have scrutinized the group for years over alleged political bias and its practice of labeling mainstream figures on the right as “extremists.”

Criticism has not come exclusively from conservatives. Ken Silverstein, who followed expelled SPLC founder Morris Dees for years for Harper's and The New Yorker, has also delivered sharp criticism from the left.

The Department of Justice charged the SPLC with allegedly defrauding donors by paying exorbitant amounts to members of extremist groups. According to the charges, those members were paid both to serve as informants and to recruit and expand their operations.

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The SPLC has denied wrongdoing and rejected the government’s case. “The charges against the SPLC are provably wrong; they are based on inaccurate facts and a misapplication of law.”

The organization also said its informant program succeeded in preventing threats and attacks, stopping criminal activity, and gathering information. The SPLC said that information was used to dismantle the efforts of hate and extremist groups.

The OCC report, released last week, detailed efforts by financial institutions to deny services to conservative organizations. It particularly highlighted the SPLC’s role in that campaign, with many documented groups having been labeled as hate groups by the organization.

Broad reputational risk policies drove much of the activity examined by the OCC. According to the report, those policies swept up numerous mainstream conservative groups and placed them at a disadvantage.

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One of the OCC’s top findings was that banks generally lacked quantifiable standards for determining the reputational risk of maintaining relationships with particular customers. The report also documented damage to specific industries that were heavily affected by debanking.

“Today’s report provides irrefutable evidence that the nation’s largest banks have denied, debanked, and discriminated against customers and lawful businesses,” Comptroller Jonathan Gould said at the time. “Americans should have access to financial services regardless of their beliefs, affiliations, or political views.”

“Fair access to financial services is not a mantra—it is a mandate. The Trump Administration is committed to ending the weaponization of finance against hardworking Americans, once and for all.”

Free speech organizations responded positively to the findings. During an appearance on the “Just the News, No Noise” television show, Alliance Defending Freedom’s Matt Sharp called the Trump administration’s effort to crack down on debanking “a huge win for every single American.”

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Sharp said the next step should involve holding accountable the institutions that pushed the practice. He argued that accountability would help ensure those harmed by debanking would not face the same treatment again.

“So, I think the first step we can do is [hold] them accountable is one of the best things we can do to make sure that this never happens again, and that those that were harmed by it can rest assured that they will never face debanking again,” Sharp said.

“They will never worry about their credit card or loan being canceled because of their religious or political beliefs. I think that's going to be the huge next step we need to take in terms of accountability.”

Some states have already passed legislation intended to prevent debanking or increase scrutiny of how financial institutions handle customer relationships. Sharp welcomed those state efforts and pointed to possible action against both banks and the SPLC.

“I know some of these states that have already passed these laws have looked at what they can do, not only against the banks but against the SPLC and others that were behind a lot of this, that were behind a lot of this ideological warfare against people by shutting down their accounts, putting other pressure on them,” he said.

The report places the SPLC’s labels and banks’ reputational risk policies at the center of renewed scrutiny. It also gives free speech organizations fresh ammunition in their push for accountability over politically or religiously motivated debanking.

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