LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Calls for Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to address her ties to the now-indicted Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) are growing.
Did the SPLC create the problem and the solution?
Mike Cox, former Michigan Attorney General and current GOP gubernatorial candidate, called for an investigation and full transparency into the Democrat’s relationship with the SPLC. Benson volunteered at the SPLC after attending college and served on the board from 2014-2018. The organization is facing a federal indictment over various wire fraud and money laundering charges. The charges allege the SPLC paid informants to infiltrate groups, like the Ku Klux Klan and Aryan Nations, and incite racial unrest. The SPLC would then swoop in and fight against the racist events they funded, the charges allege.
Cox appeared on The Steve Gruber Show on Wednesday. “It’s like the Humane Society going out and paying some dudes off the street to go beat up dogs and cats and then featuring those dogs and cats in commercials to pull on our heartstrings to give them money. It’s really no different than that,” Cox said.
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One of the key events tied to the SPLC is the Charlottesville, Virginia rally in 2017. The indictment alleges the SPLC paid individuals and groups to attend the event, which turned violent.
Organized crime.
In addition, Cox acknowledged that the SPLC’s actions are essentially organized crime. “For each ad [and] each appeal where they cite Charlottesville or they cite the American Nazi party to raise money, each of those acts are called ‘predicate acts.’ You only need two. That’s enough to establish a racketeering charge,” he said.
Cox filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking records between Benson, the Michigan Department of State, and the SPLC. The FOIA covers files, notes, communications, and records related to her time on the SPLC board.
“Funneling money to extremists.”
Cox isn’t the only one calling for answers. Michigan House Oversight Committee Chair Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay Township) said Benson’s ties to the SPLC and its events are “deeply troubling.”
“Did Jocelyn Benson know there was potential for events like these to get out of hand?” DeBoyer asked. “How involved was she if SPLC’s money was directed to these groups?”
DeBoyer also added, “Jocelyn Benson publicly denounced what took place in Charlottesville, but she was on SPLC’s Board of Directors at the time, and information uncovered in this indictment now points to the group funneling money to extremists who stoked division, intimidation, and terror at the rally.”
More money, more problems.
The federal charges aren’t the only problems hanging over the SPLC’s head. According to The Federalist, a government watchdog group filed an updated IRS complaint challenging the SPLC’s tax-exempt status.
The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) asked the IRS in October 2025 to investigate the SPLC’s tax-exempt status. It claims the SPLC is involved in “partisan political activit[ies]” that CASA claimed “are grounds for immediate revocation of charitable status.”
In a statement provided to The Federalist, CASA Director James Fitzpatrick said, “Given these new criminal allegations from the DOJ cited in this supplemental complaint, we believe this substantially increases the likelihood of an IRS investigation given the severity of the many federal crimes they are being investigated for and the large sum of money that was potentially fraudulently obtained from their donors.”
After two terms as Michigan’s Secretary of State, Benson is now running for governor.
