NC Congressman Mark Harris (R-08) led a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent asking him to revoke SPLC’s 501(c)3 status.
The reason behind the letter is clear given the superseding federal indictment against SPLC and what the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees have discovered about the group’s political activities of “consistently engaged in the partisan targeting of conservative groups.”
Read Harris’ full press release on the letter, which includes detailed background on the matter.
Meanwhile, House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY) is still investigating just how many 501(c)3 organizations are violating the law by engaging in political activity — zeroing in on the “State Democracy Defenders Fund,“ or SDDF.
Comer’s release essentially lays out that the Fund’s public mission of fighting “democracy deniers,” and protecting elections, defeating “autocracy”is being used as cover for activities that look like pay-to-play influence peddling or advancing specific private financial interests that violate its charitable status
Comer gives specific examples like actively opposing the Paramount + Warner Bros. Discovery merger, which SDDF framed as a democracy threat, but involving big entertainment industry players with high financial stakes.
Comer also raises SDD’s involvement with unions, going after Apple due to a gift they gave President Trump and engaging in lawsuits against the Trump administration with a specific law firm, Platkin LLP.
Platkin LLP is a small and newly established progressive “mission-driven“ boutique law firm founded in February 2026 by Matthew Platkin, the former Attorney General of New Jersey (2022–early 2026).
SDDF is led by Norm Eisen, a lawyer with a storied history tied to both the Clintons and former President Barack Obama. Under Obama he was known as the “ethics czar” and is responsible for much of the failed Dodd-Frank legislation.
Eisen also has direct ties to David Brock as Eisen is a former chair of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which he co-founded with Brock. Brock’s American Bridge just announced a $50M dark money bomb targeting Republicans in dozens of states — including NC’s Rep. Richard Hudson.
SDDF is a 501(c3) but it operates two organizations that have a different status:
State Democracy Defenders Action, a dark money 501(c4)
State Democracy Defenders PAC, a 527 political organization with heavy ties to former Hillary Clinton Campaign attorney Marc Elias.
SDDF was given its 501 status in March 2024 but still has no IRS filing available to view.
SDDF’s Action group is flush with over $3.91 million as of its 2024 990 filing.
According to Open Secrets profile and data on SDDF’s PAC, it raised over $3.694M in 2024. The top 2024 donor was LinkedIn founder and far-left progressive Reid Hoffman, with $650,000, followed by Garret Moran with half a million.
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