SPLC Holds Mysterious Meeting in Washington D.C.

  |  
Apr 6, 2019
Magnifying Glass on White Background

A pair of remaining high-level Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) held a mysterious meeting in Washington, D.C., Friday amid internal strife and increased scrutiny of the once-revered institution.

“Heidi Beirich and Maureen Costello, Director of the Intelligence Project and Teaching Tolerance respectively, were spotted in downtown DC, coming in and out of the Daily Caller’s building throughout the day,” according to a Daily Caller report.

The Caller reported that Beirich threatened to call the police on one of its reporters for asking questions about sexual harassment allegations levied against now-fired co-founder Morris Dees. But Dees’ sexual proclivities are not a new revelation. It has been well-documented that employees within the SPLC have accused him of such behavior, and Big League Politics reported last year that Dees had been accused of molesting his step daughter with a sex toy during divorce proceedings decades ago.

Far more interesting is the mysterious meeting itself, which took place in The Caller’s building, and which its reporters did not ask about.

That building, in the heart of D.C., is home to 10 companies, including the news organization. The organizations include Grenier Law Group, which specializes in civil litigation and wrongful death suits, the Association Management Center, which manages certifications of membership organizations, Multiplier Capital, a financial firm, a tax accounting firm called GKA, and the National Hispanic Medical Association.

The SPLC directors could have met with any of those organizations, but a few seem more likely than the ones mentioned above.

One organization with which the Center could have met seems to align with their mission. Observatory Group, whose mission “is a to help its clients understand the evolution of [their employees’] views, their biases, their institutions, their political constraints, and ultimately, what actions they will take.” At least in theory, the SPLC’s mission is social justice. Meeting with the Observatory Group would make sense to that end.

Two others are law firms.

Mooney, Green, Saindon, Murphy & Welch is a firm that specializes in “assisting unions in responding to governmental investigations and audits,” according to its website.

Though SPLC is not a union, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) has called for a government investigation into the Center’s questionable tax situation, which includes stashing millions in offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands, which is peculiar for a tax-exempt non-profit.

The other law firm, Butsavage & Durkalski, describes itself as having “decades of experience providing counsel to… nonprofit organizations regarding labor and employment matters.”

Big League Politics reached out to all three organizations – the Observatory Group and both law firms. None responded to a comment request.

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