Louie Gohmert Slams Google for Making the SPLC a 'Trusted Flagger' on YouTube

On Tuesday, multiple Republican congressmen ripped into Google for listing the far-Left Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a "trusted flagger" on its platform YouTube. Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) ripped into Google CEO Sundar Pichai for trusting an organization that brands conservative and Christian groups "hate groups" along with the Ku Klux Klan.

"You have a trusted flagger, you had indicated, called the Southern Poverty Law Center," Gohmert told Pichai. "The Southern Poverty Law Center really has stirred up more hate than about any other group I know."

Gohmert referenced the 2012 terrorist attack against the Family Research Council (FRC), in which a man used the SPLC's "hate map" to target the FRC's office in Washington, D.C. He showed up with semi-automatic weapons and a bag of Chick-fil-A chicken sandwiches to kill everyone in the building and place a sandwich by their heads.

The SPLC "stirred up one guy to the point that he went to the Family Research Council and I know those people," the congressman said. "And they're Christians. And they believe — and I believe — that Christianity is really more based on love than about any other religion in history. God so loved the world, He sent His Son, His Son so loved the world, He gave His life."

"Yet [the SPLC] stirred up hate against the Family Research Center [sic] and a guy goes in shooting," Gohmert added.

The congressman also referenced the case of Maajid Nawaz, a Muslim reformer the SPLC falsely branded an "anti-Islamic extremist." The SPLC settled a defamation lawsuit from Nawaz, paying him and his Quilliam Foundation $3.375 million.

"Now, you consider them a trusted flagger, yet they keep creating problems for people that are not haters," Gohmert said. "They had to pay out $3.375 million. My problem is, when you put your moniker on them of trusted flagger, why aren't you paying $3.375 to Mr. Maajid Nawaz? That's my problem."

SPLC Leads Soros-Funded Groups in 'Orwellian' Attempt to Ban 'Hate Speech' on Social Media He further argued that Google's leadership is blind to its own liberal bias. "You're so surrounded by liberality that hates conservatism, hates people that really love our Constitution and the freedom it's afforded people like you, that you don't even recognize it," Gohmert said. "It's like a blind man not even knowing what light looks like, because you're surrounded by darkness."

The congressman concluded by referencing a video of Google's leadership lamenting Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 election. "Your cofounder, Mr. [Sergey Mikhaylovich] Brin said, quote, 'Most people here are pretty upset and pretty sad.' A lot of us have seen the video. We saw how upset the top people at Google were."

"For you to come in here and say, 'There is no political bias in Google' tells us, you either are being dishonest, and I don't want to think that, or you don't have a clue how politically biased Google is," Gohmert concluded.

Gohmert was not alone in condemning Google for trusting the SPLC. Rep. Johnson noted that the SPLC "has kind of an infamous reputation for being — I would say — a radical Left organization that opposes conservative viewpoints." He asked Pichai, "What criteria does Google use when granting 'trusted flagger' status to third parties such as the SPLC?"

The Google CEO did not respond to the question, but he did insist that trusted flaggers "don't remove content, they can flag content for us to review and we review flagged content." Pichai noted that flagging "is mostly used by law enforcement, many non-profit agencies in areas, important areas like child safety, terrorism, and so on."

Pichai admitted that the "Southern Poverty Law Center is a trusted flagger," and suggested that Johnson point him to conservative organizations for Google to add to the list of "trusted flaggers."

"Last we've checked, they've never flagged a single video on our platform," Pichai said of the SPLC.

The SPLC has admitted that its "hate group" list is based on "opinion," and an SPLC spokesman has declared that "our aim in life is to destroy these groups, completely destroy them." After the Nawaz settlement, about 60 organizations attacked by the SPLC started looking into filing separate defamation lawsuits against the Left-wing smear factory.

The SPLC has not stopped at Google and YouTube. In October, it launched a new campaign called "Change the Terms," attempting to kick conservative viewpoints off the Internet under the guise of fighting "hate."

Perhaps the SPLC's most revealing attack came against the small Roman Catholic non-profit the Ruth Institute. In designating the Ruth Institute a "hate group," the SPLC cited the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which suggests that 1 billion people across the world belong to what the SPLC considers a hateful religion. Such an organization should never be accorded "trusted flagger" status, especially not from a company as large and powerful as Google.

UPDATE: After one of SPLC's targets sued and received a settlement, about 60 organizations also named by SPLC as
"haters" are considering a lawsuit against the SPLC for defamation. If the DOJ goes after SPLC with a RICO case,
the SPLC has half a BILLION in the bank to lose.

BACKSTORY The conniving SPLC stashed a lot of its income offshore.The Southern Poverty Law Center is best known for its "hate map" -----a collection of organizations the nonprofit SPLC deems "domestic hate groups" that lists mainstream conservative organizations alongside racist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and is often referenced in the media. A gunman opened fire at the Washington, D.C., offices of the conservative Family Research Council in 2012 after seeing it listed as an "anti-gay" group on SPLC's website.

Its the same old liberal con game----faking concern for your fellow man....and conniving to make a buck on it. That con has has turned SPLC into a fundraising powerhouse, recording more than $50 million in contributions and $328 million in net assets on its 2015 Form 990, the most recently available tax form from the nonprofit. SPLC's Form 990-T, its business income tax return, from the same year shows that they have "financial interests" in the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, and Bermuda. No information is available beyond the acknowledgment of the interests at the bottom of the form. (Excerpt) Read more at freebeacon.com ...

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REFERENCE--Southern Poverty Law Center Transfers Millions in Cash to Offshore Entities
freebeacon / FR Posted by Sub-Driver
The SPLC off-shore banking scam sounds suspiciously like the Madoff fraud. When he went to jail, investigators found Ponzi King Bernie Madoff had stashed billions offshore---into a labyrinth of financial entities.

COLLUSION AND CONSPIRACIES GALORE---Some $8.9 billion was funneled to Madoff through a dozen so-called feeder funds based in Europe, the Caribbean and Central America......a labyrinth of hedge funds, management companies and service providers that, to unsuspecting outsiders, seemed to compose a formidable system of checks and balances. But the purpose of this complex architecture was just the opposite: the feeder funds provided different modes for directing money to the cunning Madoff in order to avoid scrutiny.

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ACTION NOW---The Bank Secrecy Act should be mobilized----to follow the paper trail and determine how money changed hands among (a) SPLC (b) Obama and OFA, (c) leftist groups and donors.

Demand that the scope and dimension of collusion in sub rosa deals be examined, as to who might be personally profiting and if financing domestic terrorism is being facilitated.

<><> L/E needs to examine bank accounts of the aforementioned.

<><> Joint bank accounts might be used to facilitate the transfer funds from one account to another, and/or wire-transferred offshore;

<><> To cover their tracks, fake invoices might be created to show that money deposited into SPLC accounts was being used for legitimate purposes.

<><> Financial schemes scheme might be advanced by issuing phony statements of payments from financial sources that actually covered the transfer of funds for insiders' personal use and/or for financing domestic terrorism.

Shady banking transactions could be prosecuted under the (1) Bank Secrecy ACT, (2) RICO, and, (3) the Hobbs Act.

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<><> L/E should get ahold of: (1) copies of SPLC checks, (2) wire transfers, (3) account statements, (4) invoices, (5) bills, (6) delivery tickets, (7) SPLC correspondence including snail mail, e-mail, mobile devices, cell phones, (8) contracts, (9) loan agreements, (10) other account books or official records.

L/E should also explore (a) monies paid to brokers, sub- brokers, (b) family members, (c) mortgage brokers, (d) financial managers, and, (e) real estate agents, brokers, and developers.

<><> L/E should scrutinize bank accounts for suspicious activites: (A) large deposits, (B) funds transferred from one account into another, (C) frequent requests for withdrawals.

<><> SPLC bank records might also show diversions to secret LLC accounts, to money launder and to operate personal ventures;

Tax fraud may also be a factor, facilitated by withdrawals, gift cards purchases, credit card purchases and intra-bank transfers from legal bank accounts into personal accounts, or redistribution schemes.

<><> A huge tipoff is whether SPLC bank withdrawals support luxurious lifestyle including payments for real estate, investment and stock holdings, jewelry, luxury vehicles, resort travel....... and gifts and purchases from luxury outlets.

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