Prosecutors charge Heidi Beirich with financial crimes as part of case against the Southern Poverty Law Center

The justice department charged the SPLC in April over a now-ended program in which it paid informants to infiltrate white supremacist groups.

The government said the civil rights organization committed financial crimes by laundering money through bank accounts set up on behalf of fictitious entities to protect the identities of their informants. The government says the SPLC deceived donors into thinking they were combatting extremism, when they were actually supporting it.

The organization has strongly denied that accusation and says the charges are politically motivated. Experts have raised questions about the charges.