SPC defense asks court to subpoena key witness
Lawyers argue the Justice Department treated the informant as a member of the prosecution team, bypassing standard evidence rules.
By Marco Graham ·
The Southern Poverty Law Center has filed a motion requesting a judge to allow its attorneys to subpoena a former informant who provided extensive material to the Justice Department. Defense lawyers argue that federal investigators have treated the witness, identified in court records as F-9, as an insider to the case rather than a neutral observer.
In a filing submitted on Wednesday, the defense team accused the government of obtaining documents, recordings, and intelligence briefings from F-9 without issuing a subpoena or search warrant. While federal prosecutors typically use these legal tools to authenticate evidence and ensure all relevant materials are produced, the SPLC argues that skipping these steps is unusual, especially for a witness with a close connection to the case.
The motion asks the court to order F-9 to preserve all original documents and to permit the SPLC’s lawyers to question him directly. The attorneys noted that F-9 admitted to having a "house full of documents" and mentioned plans to shred some of them. They stated that the government allowed F-9 to decide which items to produce, how to send them, and when to release them.
F-9 is a former SPLC informant who infiltrated the National Alliance, a Neo-Nazi group, and once broke into its headquarters to steal documents. Prosecutors alleged in the indictment that F-9 had a romantic relationship with the group’s former executive, who is also currently charged in the case. The SPLC is on trial for 11 counts of wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The organization has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
According to the defense, F-9 began cooperating with the Justice Department in March 2022 while facing a potential tax prosecution for failing to pay income tax for 30 years. He resumed talks with the Department of Justice in 2025 after the case was revived. Since November 2025, F-9 has met with government agents more than 20 times, including at least four in-person sessions. He has also exchanged approximately 1,800 text messages with lead agents from the FBI and IRS.
The filing details that F-9 provided four "Intelligence Briefings" accompanied by 162 pages of PowerPoint slides. These slides analyzed potential charges, identified evidence, and suggested new investigative directions. Some of the materials, such as a flow chart with mathematical notations, were described by the defense as unclear. The lawyers also pointed out that F-9 often sent only clips from secret recordings when he possessed the full audio, suggesting a selective approach to evidence.
SPLC attorneys Abbe Lowell and Addy Schmitt said in a joint statement that F-9 had every incentive to tell the government what it wanted to hear. They described him as someone who blamed the SPLC for his financial problems and told a one-sided story to secure broad immunity. The Justice Department has been contacted for comment.
