Defense attorneys alleged Monday that Charlie Kirk’s criticism of the Southern Poverty Law Center, along with his murder, were key moments inspiring the Trump administration to prosecute the leftist group.
Kirk’s September 2025 shooting death in Utah prompted the government to revisit a letter from Kirk and other right-wing figures that called the SPLC a “progressive hit operation,” according to a filing from codefendant Heidi Beirich, a former SPLC financial officer. The filing says Kirk’s slaying caused a train of events leading the FBI to investigate the SPLC and speak to a group that co-signed Kirk’s letter.
The court records thus link the SPLC to a timeline of President Donald Trump’s mission to dismantle alleged criminal networks on the Left. Kirk’s death, which authorities called a political killing, boosted that agenda during a moment of national outrage. The FBI inquiry led to indictments accusing the SPLC and Beirich of fraud and other offenses for funding informants inside racist groups, a tactic prosecutors said amounted to deceiving donors.
Leading prosecutor Kevin Davidson did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment. Beirich is asking a court to dismiss her charges as politically motivated.
“Animus toward Dr. Beirich’s and the SPLC’s disfavored, but First Amendment-protected, speech occupied a critical role among the [prosecution] in how to investigate and who to charge,” the Monday filing claimed.
The alleged Kirk domino effect
Kirk’s co-signed letter blasted the SPLC in August 2025 for portraying mainstream conservative organizations such as Kirk’s Turning Point USA as “hate” groups. The letter called it a departure from the SPLC’s founding mission in 1971 to combat widely condemned white supremacists. Signatories asked top White House adviser Stephen Miller to ensure federal agencies no longer use “defamatory” SPLC material for tracking violent extremism.
About a month later, Trump separately ordered officials to target crimes involving leftist “extremism” in a memo referencing Kirk’s assassination. The FBI launched its SPLC investigation based on the memo a day later, defense lawyers said, citing emails they filed as evidence.
The records suggested the FBI kicked off the inquiry by interviewing Horatio Mihet from Liberty Counsel, which co-signed Kirk’s White House letter. The SPLC labels the organization an anti-LGBT “hate group” for its religious liberty-related litigation.
“It was good to make your acquaintance on the call today,” Mihet wrote to FBI Supervisory Special Agent Parker Still, according to the documents. “I will have my team look for materials might support your investigation on the issues we discussed.”
The email also invited the bureau to take a look at the coalition letter “sent to the White House regarding the SPLC’s false and fraudulent ‘hate group’ designations.”
Liberty Counsel did not respond to a request for comment.
A previous FBI investigation into the SPLC from 2019 was closed before Trump’s second presidency without leading to charges, according to Beirich’s lawyers.
DEEP-POCKETED DONORS FLOCKED TO THE SPLC TO HEAL AMERICA’S DIVISIONS. DID IT PAY OFF?
The FBI maintained friendly relations with the group under the Biden administration. The bureau later drew criticism in Congress for citing SPLC research to justify monitoring traditionalist Catholics as potential violent extremists.
A month after Kirk’s death, FBI Director Kash Patel granted the request in his letter with an announcement on social media: “Under this FBI, all ties with the SPLC have officially been terminated.”