The Justice Department claimed Tuesday that the Southern Poverty Law Center paid Ku Klux Klan members to remain active in the Klan and reimbursed expenses relating to cross-burnings, Klan robes, and recruitment. The allegations came in a superseding indictment filed in federal court in Alabama that expands on an April case accusing the SPLC of wire fraud, bank fraud, and a conspiracy to commit money laundering. According to prosecutors, the SPLC paid more than $4.1 million to confidential informants embedded within white nationalist and extremist organizations between 2010 and 2023 while concealing the payments from donors through a network of shell entities and fraudulent bank accounts. Two Ku Klux Klan members approached the SPLC in 2010 seeking to leave the organization because they feared for their safety, the indictment said. Rather than helping them exit, prosecutors say the SPLC paid the pair $1,200 per month plus expenses to remain active in the Klan and provide information. SPLC Superseding Indictment June 2 2026 by Caleb Taylor According to the indictment, the men used donor-funded reimbursements for activities that included recruiting new Klan members, producing white robes and hoods, publishing extremist literature, establishing new chapters, and organizing rallies. The indictment further alleges the SPLC reimbursed expenses incurred for “cross-burning events, to include the wood and fuel used.” Federal prosecutors say the payments were routed through a shell company called “Rare Books Warehouse” and other fictitious entities designed to conceal the true source of the money. “The SPLC’s paid informants engaged in the active promotion of racist groups at the same time that the SPLC was denouncing the same groups on its website,” prosecutors said. The SPLC has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denies wrongdoing. Attorney Abbe Lowell, representing the organization, said Tuesday that the new filing “changes nothing” and argued the group’s informant program helped prevent violence and save lives.  The expanded indictment claims the SPLC maintained a covert network of paid sources inside extremist organizations dating back decades. Those sources allegedly included a Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard, a leader connected to the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, and members of other white nationalist groups. According to prosecutors, one source linked to Unite the Right received approximately $270,000 from the SPLC between 2015 and 2023. Prosecutors allege another source received roughly $1.2 million, including payments connected to the theft of documents from the neo-Nazi National Alliance that were later used in SPLC reporting. The Justice Department argues that the case is not about the practice of using informants itself but rather the alleged deception involved in obtaining donor money and concealing how those funds were distributed. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche previously accused the organization of funding the very extremism it claimed to combat. “To that end, they were doing the exact opposite of what they told their donors they were doing — not dismantling extremism but funding it,” Blanche said when the original indictment was announced. The superseding indictment also highlights the organization’s financial growth during the period in question. Prosecutors noted that SPLC revenue increased from approximately $38.7 million in 2010 to more than $129 million in 2023, while net assets grew from roughly $238 million to nearly $787 million. The case remains pending in federal court in the Middle District of Alabama.

President Donald Trump could be courtside for Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday at Madison Square Garden. The New York native describes himself as a lifelong Knicks fan, and Trump secured an invite from team owner James Dolan to the Finals last week, though he never specified which game. But now the plans appear to be taking shape. The New York Post reported that Trump plans to attend the June 8 matchup between the Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs at MSG. Venue officials have already conducted security walk-throughs in preparation for a potential presidential visit. “I was going to go on Wednesday [Game 5 of Eastern Conference Finals], but they closed it out very quickly,” Trump told The Post. “They”re great, and Jim Dolan’s a great guy. He’s, as you know, owns and in charge of Madison Square Garden. He’s having a good year.” The White House has yet to confirm any plans for Trump to attend the game. New York City Democratic Mayor Zohran Mamdani said last week that he would not attend the game with Trump if the president makes the trip. The Knicks are making their first NBA Finals appearance since 1999, when they also faced the Spurs. “If the president went to a game, I’d let him, that’s his decision to make. If I go to the game, I’ll be doing so separately,” Mamdani told TMZ. Mamdani attended Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, purchasing his own ticket and sitting in the upper level of MSG. Despite their political differences, Mamdani said Thursday that one thing he and Trump have in common is wanting the Knicks to win the NBA championship. The Finals would be the latest major sporting event attended by Trump. He attended Super Bowl LIX, the 2026 College Football Playoff championship in Miami, and several regular-season college football games. Before his return to the White House, Trump made time for the primetime NFL matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Jets just days before the 2024 election. The highly anticipated NBA Finals tip off Wednesday in San Antonio, where the Spurs host the first two matchups. The Knicks enter the championship series on an 11-game win streak, while the Spurs are coming off a battle in the Western Conference Finals, where San Antonio took down the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 7 to advance.

New fear unlocked: the flesh-eating maggot that happily burrows inside livestock, wildlife, and yes, even humans, eating its prey from the inside out a little too close to home, especially for Texans. The New World screwworm is a type of fly that feeds off wounds — and a potential case in South Texas is now being tested at the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Iowa. “We have already activated personnel on the ground and are working with local partners,” the Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday. A case of NWS may have been detected in South Texas. The sample is now at USDA’s National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) in Ames, lowa for confirmatory testing. We will provide updates the moment results are available. We have already activated personnel on the ground… — Dept. of Agriculture (@USDA) June 3, 2026 The potential U.S. case comes after the screwworm was found last week in a 5-year-old goat in Coahuila, the Mexican state that borders southwestern Texas. A separate case was reported on Sunday of the screwworm infecting a dog in Tamaulipas, another bordering Mexican state. As of Monday, the USDA is tracking 1,981 active animal cases in the country. The current outbreak in Mexico has gone on for a while, which caused Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins to shut down livestock trade across the southern border in July 2025. There was one confirmed U.S. case last year from a person who returned to Maryland after traveling to El Salvador. Adult screwworm flies are the size of a housefly, with orange eyes, a metallic blue or green body, and three dark stripes along their backs. The parasite is typically found in South America and parts of the Caribbean, but has been found farther north, in Central America and Mexico, over the last three years. While the outbreak in Mexico and Central America is primarily in livestock, wildlife, and pets, there have been cases in people, according to the CDC. The agency reports the screwworm maggots cause painful, foul-smelling wounds — and that sometimes maggots can be seen or felt in open wounds or in parts of the body with openings, including nose, mouth, eyes, ears, and genitals. If the infestation isn’t caught early and treated quickly, it can lead to extensive tissue damage and sometimes death. The CDC advises keeping any open wounds clean and covered, no matter the size or location on the body. Wear loose clothing, long-sleeved shirts and pants, hats, and socks to limit skin exposure. Other preventive measures include using an EPA-registered insect repellent, treating clothes with products containing 0.5% permethrin, and sleeping indoors when able. If mammals or birds are found to be showing signs of irritated behavior, head shaking, decaying smell, or maggots in wounds, they should be reported to an animal health official immediately. The USDA is reporting any new “screwworm” cases within 400 miles of the U.S. border on its map tracker every Tuesday and Thursday, and new cases within 100 miles are being tracked daily.

There is a quiet crisis destroying the lives of American children happening right in front of us, but about which far too few people know. It is the crisis of child sex trafficking. Tens of thousands of kids — boys and girls — are trapped in it, and most all of it takes place online. I learned the story recently of a girl I’ll call Lisa. She was first sexually abused when she was only a toddler, just two or three. Her attacker posted degrading and graphic pictures of the abuse on the internet. That’s where federal investigators first saw her. The good news was that, based on certain identifying clues in the photos, they believed they could pinpoint Lisa’s location. The bad news? The government has only a handful of investigators with forensic expertise dedicated full-time to fighting child trafficking. And the scope of the crisis is overwhelming. It’s time we did something about it. There are thousands and thousands of children like Lisa. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children recorded 20.6 million files — images, videos, and other files — of suspected child sexual abuse in 2017. In 2025, it was 61.8 million files. That’s a 200% increase in less than a decade. To give you a sense of the sheer number of abusers involved, consider this: in a single, six-month period last year, 338,000 separate IP addresses — individual online users, essentially — posted or shared images of child rape. All of that in just six months. What does that mean in real terms? It means that tens of thousands of children are trapped and waiting to be rescued. The global police agency Interpol estimates there are 89,000 children for whom law enforcement has identifying images, but who have not been located. This means there are nearly 90,000 kids who could be found and rescued if we just devoted the time and manpower to find them. How do I know it’s possible? Because of Lisa. Investigators in her case began analyzing what they found online, zeroing in on clues in the images her abuser shared. A shadow here. The outlines of buildings there. A glimpse of playground equipment in the background of a video that one analyst recognized as unique to certain cities in the American South. They worked and analyzed and narrowed her location until, finally, they were able to find her and bring her to safety. Lisa’s rescue was no one-off. In another case, investigators were able to isolate the audio of a bird call in the background of a video to locate and rescue a child based on the range and habitat of that particular bird. And in yet another case, federal investigators analyzed an image depicting a young victim in the backseat of a car, with a blurry highway sign through the window. Their analysis of that single sign led to a search that rescued an 11-year-old girl only 13 days after the images were first discovered online. That’s what the best cops can do when they have the means. It’s time we gave them what they need. One man who has been showing the way is Tim Tebow, the former Heisman Trophy winner and football legend. His nonprofit group, the Tim Tebow Foundation, has been a powerful advocate for America’s missing and exploited children. Every year, the Tebow Foundation partners with federal law enforcement to surge resources to the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks to help rescue kids. That surge means more forensic analysts, more investigators — and more children rescued. This program has had tremendous success. But it’s only two weeks, once a year. We ought to make that surge bigger. And it’s time to make it permanent. Tim and I have worked on legislation together to add 200 full-time cops and forensic experts to Homeland Security to analyze every piece of child abuse evidence they can get their hands on. Our legislation would also create a new training program to coordinate federal, state, and local efforts, so that all levels of law enforcement can tackle this problem together. Taken as a whole, it would constitute one of the largest investments in fighting child trafficking this country has ever made. Congress has the opportunity to pass this legislation now. It’s part of the latest funding package for the Department of Homeland Security, which currently awaits action on the Senate floor. The crisis we face is real, and the thousands of kids trapped in trafficking cannot wait any longer. Let’s go rescue them. *** Josh Hawley serves as Missouri’s senior U.S. senator.

Two Department of Justice sources told The Daily Wire that the agency is not investigating former Rep. George Santos over allegations that he profited by betting against his own attendance at President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. Kalshi appears to be investigating Santos, but reports that federal prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation following the company’s referral are false, sources told The Daily Wire. NPR first reported that Kalshi referred Santos to federal authorities after the former congressman allegedly profited by wagering that he would not attend the February speech. The controversy stems from a February 23 video in which the former congressman told followers, “I’m going to be there for the State of the Union in the gallery, guys,” one day before Trump’s primetime address. State of the union update! pic.twitter.com/y9nrYpCyU4 — George Santos (@Georgesantos) February 23, 2026 Kalshi prediction traders were spending millions of dollars worth of bets on who would attend, according to NPR. Santos’ video increased the odds of his attendance, until he didn’t show up.  “Watching SOTU from an airport tv was not part of the plan! FML,” Santos posted on the night of the speech. Watching SOTU from an airport tv was not part of the plan! FML