The Southern Poverty Law Center faces charges of wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy for sending $3 million to members of white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups. This indictment led me to update the book I wrote in 2020, “Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center.” At the end of the update, I give a list of concrete ways you can take action against the SPLC. Select passages from the update follow. Back in 2019, the SPLC smeared conservative Christian groups as “anti-LGBT hate groups,” [its education arm] Teaching Tolerance was spreading critical race theory and transgender ideology, and the SPLC was trying to convince donor-advised funds to blacklist “hate groups.” In the intervening years, however, things only got worse. … In 2023, the SPLC released its “hate map” for 2022, and it included 702 “antigovernment extremist groups.” Prominent among these “antigovernment extremists” was the “anti-student inclusion movement.” The “hate map” featured no fewer than 230 chapters of Moms for Liberty, along with the policy group Parents Defending Education. The next year, the SPLC added groups led by medical professionals, such as Do No Harm and the Society for Evidence-Based Gender Medicine, to the “hate map,” branding them “anti-LGBTQ hate groups” because they oppose experimental transgender “medicine” to make men appear female and vice versa. The SPLC even branded Gays Against Groomers—a group of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people who oppose the sexualization of children and transgender ideology—an “anti-LGBTQ hate group,” suggesting that their key target of hate is… themselves. The following year, the center added Turning Point USA, the largest conservative grassroots youth organization in the country, to the map, stating that its “primary strategy is sowing and exploiting fear that white Christian supremacy is under attack.” The SPLC also added PragerU, a conservative group that makes YouTube videos to educate the public, to the map. … Despite the SPLC’s many scandals, President Joe Biden’s administration welcomed this morally bankrupt smear factory with open arms. … Documents showed that R.G. Cravens, manager of research and analysis at the SPLC’s Intelligence Project, spoke at a conference for Justice Department prosecutors on Nov. 7, 2023. A program for the event noted that Cravens would focus on “the anti-LGBTQ movement” and “help investigators and prosecutors identify potential evidence and motivations for bias crime.” Under President Donald Trump, the FBI has officially distanced itself from the SPLC. FBI Director Kash Patel told The Daily Signal that the SPLC’s “disgraceful record makes them unfit for any FBI partnership. Even so, Democrats’ defenses of the SPLC suggest that it may return to federal influence should another Democrat follow President Trump in the White House in 2029. … Why, exactly, does the SPLC face criminal charges? Before acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and FBI Director Kash Patel announced the criminal charges on April 21, 2026, the SPLC put out its own statement. The SPLC announced that it faced a criminal investigation for what it described as the use of “paid confidential informants to gather credible intelligence on extremely violent groups.” SPLC Interim CEO Bryan Fair said the informants were “necessary” to protect the SPLC from “countless credible threats.” He added that while the SPLC fed information to law enforcement, it did not “share our use of informants broadly with anyone.” He said the group no longer works with paid informants, even though they previously “saved lives.” The indictment claims, however, that the SPLC was funding the very “hate” it claimed it exists to destroy. The indictment refers to the payees as “field sources” or “Fs.” The list includes F-37, “a member of the online leadership chat group that planned the 2017 ‘Unite the Right’ event in Charlottesville, Virginia and attended the event at the direction of the SPLC.” The indictment states that this field source “made racist postings under the supervision of the SPLC and helped coordinate transportation to the event for several attendees.” Between 2015 and 2023, the SPLC allegedly paid this field source more than $270,000. The SPLC does not face charges merely for paying members of white nationalist groups, but for defrauding donors, lying to banks, and conspiring to cover up the activity. … The indictment confirms my suspicions that the SPLC had not just been exaggerating “hate” by smearing conservatives, but also by supporting racist extremists. It also underlines the key warning of “Making Hate Pay”: that the SPLC has become a corrupt smear factory. If the SPLC lied to banks, as the indictment suggests, it will be very difficult for the center to weasel its way out of a guilty verdict. … What You Can Do Against SPLC If you work at a company that works with [the software company] Benevity, please consider asking your employer to opt out of using the SPLC “hate map” filter. If you notice Learning for Justice materials in your school, please speak up. If you worked for a company that the SPLC and its allies bullied into blacklisting “hate groups,” and are willing to speak on record or anonymously, I’d love to hear from you. If you hear someone considering giving to the SPLC, please let them know how corrupt this smear factory is. The Trump administration and conservatives increasingly know the truth about the SPLC—we need to make it so obvious that Democrats and the Left cannot ignore it.

The Virginia GOP secured a win for voter representation last week when the state Supreme Court ruled against a Democrat effort to push out Republican representation. Although the maps remain as before, Virginia is still a purple state, and the fight is far from over. Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., faces the most contentious race in the state. The second-term congresswoman is battling her former opponent and predecessor, Elaine Luria, a Navy veteran who served as U.S representative in the district from 2019 to 2023. “Our seat is never really a safe seat,” Kiggans told The Daily Signal. Breaking News: Spanberger tells the truth! (First time for everything…! ) https://t.co/knQQ3lGjg0— Jen Kiggans (@JenKiggans) May 14, 2026 “It will still be a tough fight here in the 2nd District, but we’re ready for it,” she continued. “We’ve been here before. We’ll do it again, and we’re looking forward to victory in November.” Kiggans last beat Luria in 2022 with just over 10,000 votes. However, Virginia currently has a Democrat majority in the state Legislature, as well as in the governor’s mansion and the entire state leadership. “This is not about a power grab,” Kiggans explained. “This is about how we can serve the veteran population that lives here, the business owners, the people that are hardworking families.” “I think the voters … know that I served in the state Senate here for three years before we flipped the seat in ’22 and kept it again in ’24. And we’ll keep it again in ’26 because this is a service job for me,” she continued. Kiggans and Luria, both veterans, will be vying for the roughly 15% of Virginians who are service members. On April 6th, military commissaries across the country began charging its patrons for paper and plastic grocery bags. This kind of added cost undermines a benefit meant to support our servicemembers, retirees, and their families. I’ve sent a letter to Undersecretary of War Tata… pic.twitter.com/Fi6dEbwSto— Congresswoman Jen Kiggans (@RepJenKiggans) April 13, 2026 Kiggans says her main focus is affordability for Virginians. “We need to make sure that we’re focused on the economy. I think that we all agree that things are costing too much money, from the price of gas to everyday items to electric bills to houses,” she said. House Republicans are currently working to save Americans over a trillion dollars before the midterms, saying they are ready to deliver on housing, health care, energy affordability, and fraud prevention. This fight has consumed the GOP, which delivered the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” last year. “We’re continuing to prioritize the cost of life,” Kiggans said, anticipating the upcoming tax cut bill. While democrats in Richmond: Increase Taxes Make new TaxesHouse Republicans in Washington voted for: No Tax on Tips No Tax on Overtime Increased Child Tax CreditI'm proud to be on the side of actual AFFORDABILITY!! pic.twitter.com/TCLWOPQpIR— Jen Kiggans (@JenKiggans) February 12, 2026

Like many of America’s once-great metropolises, Portland, Oregon, has seen better days. Drug-addled homeless continue to ravage the streets, and businesses have begun packing their bags for greener pastures, following the thousands of city residents who have had enough. The reason Portland has become such a disaster is simple: It prioritizes the needs of its most destructive residents over those who follow the law. A story from last week exemplifies this perfectly. Portland resident Chris Bolton tried to get the city to deal with a festering homeless camp outside his home. After spending months begging the city to come sweep the camp, Bolton was stunned to receive a visit from the Portland Bureau of Transportation, claiming he was the problem due to an overgrown hedge that would block a proposed stop sign. The city then threatened Bolton with fines and liens if he didn’t deal with the hedge, all while drug paraphernalia, deserted vehicles, and biowaste accumulated nearby. Bolton and some neighbors trimmed the hedge and even cleaned up some of the homeless’ trash. The city then tried to punish Bolton for doing what the city failed to do. Bolton’s experience reveals the logic increasingly common in progressive governance: The law-abiding are regulated aggressively, while chronic disorder is accommodated indefinitely. In Portland, those who follow the law are targets, not just of the lawless, but of the city itself. By contrast, the lawless are free to do as they like—someone else will deal with the mess later. The vagrants outside of Bolton’s house left mountains of trash that he was eventually forced to clean up. No consequences for them, just for Bolton. And when the natural consequences of the government’s failure to act in the interest of its citizenry come home to roost, that same government seeks to punish the law-abiding even more. It’s no surprise, then, that Portland’s downtown is hollowing out in the wake of lax enforcement and a hostile political climate. The city’s office vacancy rate sits at a record high of almost 30%, one of the highest rates of any city in the country. Why would any business choose to invest in Portland? The city has proven that it refuses to deal with the myriad problems preventing businesses from thriving. Fentanyl zombies prowl unabated, causing anemic foot traffic. Unrestricted shoplifting ensures that retail consistently operates at a loss. All that paired with a tax rate rivaled only by New York City, and investing in Portland looks like a losing proposition. Rather than enforce the law, city leaders respond by seeking to punish the few remaining businesses. Portland authorities are considering a vacancy fee that would punish business owners whose properties remain empty for too long. That same punitive philosophy shapes Portland’s drug policy. On drug use, the city has made clear that it prioritizes the most destructive elements of society over everyone else. Earlier this year, the state Legislature killed a bill that would have banned mobile needle distribution services near schools. Now, Multnomah County, home to Portland, is considering similar legislation before its board of commissioners. If statements from county commissioners are any indication, the legislation will likely suffer the same fate. “I would say there’s a lot of evidence that clean syringes save lives,” said Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards. “So, this is a community health issue, and it’s been a well-established practice.” In Portland, schoolchildren are prioritized less than drug addicts. Because though these needle facilities are technically exchanges, most do not require returning dirty needles to obtain clean ones. The result is used needles strewn about parks, sidewalks, and—of course—outside schools. The two-tiered system of enforcement is an issue of civilizational importance. Those who follow the rules are treated like second-class citizens. Such disparity breeds contempt and tears down society from within. Sadly, Portland is not an isolated case. In progressive cities, civic responsibility is regulated while anti-social behavior is accommodated. Indeed, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass recently raised eyebrows when she suggested that taxpayers should foot the bill to provide dental surgery for meth heads.  The inevitable result will be productive citizens deciding to leave rather than subsidize decline forever. And then overgrown hedges will be the least of these cities’ concerns. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris recently dropped several not-too-subtle hints that she wants to run for president in 2028. Polls, at least for now, show the leading likely Democrat candidate is California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Many Democrat pundits and insiders say Harris’ failed run against Donald Trump renders her damaged goods and therefore, insufficiently attractive to the donor class. The Los Angeles Times recently wrote: “As Kamala Harris eyes a possible 2028 presidential bid, there is little outward enthusiasm among her biggest 2024 backers to fund a repeat performance. … The Times reached out to more than two dozen top donors to the biggest pro-Harris super PAC in 2024. Several of them said they do not plan to support her should she choose to run, or declined to talk about her. Others did not respond.” For Harris, this sounds ominous. But there’s a flaw in this reasoning, and it represents a huge threat to Newsom’s plans, as well as those of any of the other names floated as possible candidates. It is true that Harris lost every swing state. It is true that Harris performed worse than Joe Biden among nearly every major racial and gender demographic group, except one: black women. Among black men, Donald Trump got 20% of their vote, an astonishingly high number for a Republican presidential candidate. But black women stood firm. They love Harris. A Washington Post exit poll found Harris, among black female voters, got over 92% of their vote, a higher percentage than those who voted for Biden. Newsom, like many Democrats who refused to say so out loud, believed Biden lacked the capacity to run for reelection. Like a vulture, he hovered above the White House looking for a time to pounce. But Newsom knew black female voters, the most loyal part of the Democrat base, would not take kindly to a white male elbowing Harris out of the chance to become the first female president and the first black female president. So, he gritted his teeth and sat it out. Many black female voters consider the jokes about Harris’ “cackle” and the disparaging comments about her “word salad” answers both sexist and racist. In November 2021, TheGrio, a publication that focuses on the black community, published an article defending Harris against what it considered unfair criticism with this headline: “Can a sista get a break? Kamala Harris is an easy scapegoat amid media’s broadside against her.” It is a must-read for Newsom and others looking to compete against a possible Harris candidacy. The author, Sophia A. Nelson, who once ran for Congress as a Republican but is now an independent, wrote: “A group of my sorority sisters (Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.) and I were lamenting about how little respect Harris, also a soror, receives from her own administration and national media. As the first woman and first woman of color to be elected to the nation’s second highest office, you would expect that Vice President Harris would have been given a much higher-profile portfolio of issues to manage, as well as be used more strategically, considering the loyal and influential Black women voter base of the Democratic Party.” “Why is Harris getting the blame for the clear dysfunction of the Biden administration?” she continued. “Because she is the easy scapegoat. Aren’t we always? Black women are as Zora Neale Hurston once said, ‘the mules of the world.’ We do all the work and we plow, and we dig, and we support, and we help. And in return we get little to no thanks — just as Harris and Black women voters who put Biden in the White House are finding out.” “Black women are always the spectators in the arena, versus being allowed the space be one of the victors in the arena,” wrote Nelson. “It’s always a double standard for Black women—and it’s exhausting,” she wrote. South Carolina will be an early, if not the first, Democrat primary state for the 2028 presidential election. Sixty percent of the South Carolina Democrat primary voters are black, and of that number, 60% to 65% are black females. How will Newsom explain his “vote for me instead of Kamala” candidacy to black female Democrat voters, many of whom feel disrespected and unrewarded despite their loyalty to the party? Simply demonizing Trump as a “fascist” won’t cut it. Good luck, Gavin. COPYRIGHT 2026 CREATORS.COM We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal.

Ohio is below average in family rankings, according to a recent report that measures family strength and stability across all 50 states. But two top elected officials in the Buckeye State say promoting fatherhood and lowering the tax burden could help improve the situation. Last month, the Center for Christian Virtue released its 2026 Family Structure Index. The report analyzes how different states compare in promoting families. Ohio ranked 30th, coming in below the national average. It earned an index score of 87.2, which was far below top-ranked Utah, at 102.6, but way ahead of last-place New Mexico, at 78.4. The index tracks marriage as one indicator of family stability. For example, 60.9% of Ohio teens have married parents, compared to 77.2% in Utah. In New Mexico, just 52.5% of teens have parents with marriages intact. Center for Christian Virtue President Aaron Baer, an Ohio resident himself, told The Daily Signal that strong families produce strong states, and strong states produce a strong country. “As the family goes, so goes Ohio, and so goes the nation. [That] is really the point here,” he said. Baer said the family is 80% a culture issue and 20% a public policy issue. On the policy side, the Center for Christian Virtue’s report ties family well-being to such issues such as education and entitlement programs. “The public schools are forming children to devalue marriage and kids,” Baer said, adding that it’s “a real problem.” As for entitlement programs, Baer noted they are a top area of government spending. Moreover, it’s hard to get families off of entitlements. The solution, he said, is to build strong families so they don’t need entitlements. Strong Families = Strong State This jumps off the pages of @CCVPolicy & @FamStudies 2026 Family Structure Index. Check out https://t.co/ruvKJaqnLO to find your state's ranking & @BradWilcoxIFS perspective on how strong families are connected with growth.A few key lessons pic.twitter.com/DyG0LuCthE— Aaron Baer (@aarbaer) April 7, 2026 Two top lawmakers from Ohio pointed to other issues vital to building up the family. U.S. Sen. Jon Husted, an Ohio Republican, played a role in passing the Working Family Tax Cut Plan, which includes a $2,200 child tax credit. The senator told The Daily Signal that the tax credit helps with family formation and gives parents more resources for raising children. “Anything we can do to help parents make ends meet by supporting their family and how they raise their children is an important part of making stronger families,” Husted said. “We know that financial stress is a leading indicator for divorce and family disillusion. … That’s why the Working Family Tax Cut plan was such an important part of supporting our families,” he added. The Ohio Legislature has crafted other pro-family policies, such as the Responsible Fatherhood Initiative. “[We wanted] to really make a critical investment in ensuring that youth across the state of Ohio have the best chance possible to grow up with a father figure in their lives,” Ohio Senate President Rob McColley told The Daily Signal. That initiative included an appropriation of $25 million to support organizations with a track record of developing young men into responsible fathers. One such group is Tony Dungy’s All Pro Dad, a charitable fatherhood program of Family First. Watch the full press conference—including Chris’ remarks—on Ohio’s Responsible Fatherhood Initiative: https://t.co/rBluvl40rq https://t.co/KQhEzXAtcY— Center for Christian Virtue (@CCVPolicy) June 20, 2025 McColley said such fatherhood initiatives can help Ohio improve in the rankings. “Where you spend your money is oftentimes where you can point to your priorities,” he said, adding that people have not always been willing to discuss fatherlessness and its impact. “I think we can’t be afraid to have these tough conversations because our children really are relying on us to line up state policy with a pro-family lens that we can lean into,” McColley said. “… We’re trying to make it more likely that our youth are growing up in a house with two parents, or at least with both parents involved with their lives.” According to Baer, it’s noteworthy that the two states at the top of the Family Structure Index, Utah and Idaho, have “strong religious cultures” and low taxes and entitlement spending. It’s not that lawmakers are more willing to cut taxes in Utah than in Ohio, Baer argued, but that Utah can do so when they don’t have so many people on entitlements. “Government’s going to be a little bigger here [in Ohio] because we have more issues to deal with,” Baer said.