\n<\/p>\n
Political activist George Clooney and his wife, Amal, were major donors to the ultra-left nonprofit advocacy group, Southern Poverty Law Center, which was just indicted on suspicion of funding the same white nationalists it claimed to be fighting against.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Clooney has not made a public statement in the wake of the bombshell allegations against SPLC.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In an indictment <\/span>made public<\/span><\/a> on Tuesday, the SPLC stands accused of secretly using donated funds to pay leaders within racist groups. One of the SPLC\u2019s informants was a member of the leadership team of a white supremacist group that planned the rally in Charlottesville, according to the Justice Department.<\/span><\/p>\n The informant was paid more than $270,000 by the SPLC between 2015 and 2023 and was part of a group chat created for those who were planning the \u201cUnite the Right\u201d rally in 2017 \u2014 which included neo-Nazis and Klansmen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n That rally in Charlottesville has long been used as proof that white supremacy is still rampant in the United States \u2014 and was even cited by former President Joe Biden as the reason he felt compelled to run for president in 2020 \u2014 but the indictment spurs questions about how much of the \u201cthreat\u201d was actually bought and paid for by the very people claiming to fight against it.<\/span><\/p>\n Clooney donated a whopping $1 million through his Clooney Foundation for Justice in an effort \u201cto combat hate groups\u201d in the wake of the Charlottesville incident, SPLC noted at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are proud to support the Southern Poverty Law Center in its efforts to prevent violent extremism in the United States. What happened in Charlottesville, and what is happening in communities across our country, demands our collective engagement to stand up to hate,\u201d the Clooneys said in a statement in 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLike George and Amal Clooney, we were shocked by the size, ugliness, and ferocity of the white supremacist gathering in Charlottesville,\u201d SPLC President Richard Cohen echoed in a <\/span>news release<\/span><\/a> at the same time. \u201cIt was a reflection of just how much Trump\u2019s incendiary campaign and presidency has energized the radical right. We are deeply grateful to the Clooney Foundation for standing with us at this critical moment in our country\u2019s fight against hate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n