FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 1, 2026
democracyrestored.org
Jocelyn Benson has deep ties to the federally indicted Southern Poverty Law Center.
A lawyer who sat on the board of a group facing federal prosecution for actions taken during her tenure deserves some professional scrutiny, especially if that lawyer holds a government position. Such is the case with Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.
Benson previously served on the Board of Directors for the now-federally indicted Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) from 2014 to 2018, although her association with the group goes back to at least 2004. Given the charges against SPLC, government watchdog Democracy Restored (DR) has filed a bar complaint against Benson with the Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission.
On April 21, 2026, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging the SPLC with 11 counts of wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering. The indictment period includes Benson’s tenure on the Board.
On May 4, 2026, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier issued the SPLC a 14-page subpoena pursuant to the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. The subpoena demands financial records identifying the origin and eventual destination of donated funds. Uthmeier added in a news release, “SPLC appears to be running a deceptive organization that pays informants to manufacture racism on its behalf.”
SPLC’s purported mission includes being a “catalyst for racial justice in the South . . . to dismantle white supremacy.” However, according to the indictment, beginning in the 1980s, SPLC allegedly ran a network of covert operatives who joined and encouraged well-known violent or racist extremist groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan and Unite the Right.
Between 2014 and 2023, which includes Benson’s time as a board director, the SPLC allegedly funneled more than $3 million in donated funds to fictitiously named bank accounts allegedly controlled by SPLC operatives who joined these groups. According to the indictment, the alleged objective of the SPLC was to incite activity in violent or extremism groups in order to spur larger contributions from donors. SPLC would then allegedly use the violent or extremist groups’ “activity” as a basis for making materially false and misleading statements to donors that the SPLC was seeking to inhibit the violent or extremist groups’ “activity,” as opposed to funding it.
Benson is additionally implicated because in May 2025, the House of Representatives voted to hold her in civil contempt for failing to respond to issued subpoenas. That and her potential knowledge of SPLC’s alleged fraud raises concerns about her fitness to practice law, as well as her probity as Michigan Secretary of State.
“With the recent DOJ indictment of the SPLC for allegedly funding the hate groups they claim to oppose, Jocelyn Benson should face serious scrutiny and investigation,” said Democracy Restored Director Houston Keene. “Secretary Benson served on the board of the SPLC between 2014 and 2018, amid an uptick in white supremacy extremism that included the deadly 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Being a barred attorney in any state requires one to follow the rules in action and spirit, especially if one is serving as an elected official.”
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