Trump Administration’s Campaign Against the Soros Network Becomes a Catalyst for Progressive Consolidation Ahead of the Midterm Elections

On May 7, 2026, in a district court in Montgomery, Alabama, one of the oldest civil rights organizations in the United States, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which has financial ties to the Open Society Foundations (OSF), the network founded by George Soros and led since 2023 by his son Alex, pleaded not guilty to 11 counts in a case brought by the Department of Justice.

The indictment charges the SPLC with fraud, money laundering, and providing false information to banks. U.S. prosecutors allege that from 2014 to 2023, the organization transferred more than $3 million to representatives of racist and neo-Nazi groups.

The payment program that prosecutors classify as fraud was formally an SPLC intelligence operation aimed at placing informants inside far-right structures. Although several American lawyers have questioned the evidentiary basis of the prosecution’s case against the SPLC, the investigation into the Southern Poverty Law Center’s activities is ongoing.