blog: SPLC indictment and the institutional trust problem

[kvncrw]

Summary

Opinion post on the April 21, 2026 SPLC bank fraud indictment, building on Patrick McKenzie's writeup at Bits About Money. Uses the case as a prompt to examine concentrated soft power over financial rails — a recurring USIPS theme that overlaps with prior posts on Fair Access to Banking and the OCC reputational risk rule.

The piece is intentionally voicier and more first-person than typical USIPS posts; happy to dial it back if that's the wrong register for the site.

Files

• content/blog/2026/05/splc-indictment-and-trust.md — the post (KC-authored)
• content/blog/2026/05/_index.md — new May 2026 month section

Notes

• No blog_image set. If we want OG/social cards, drop a .webp at image/blog/2026/05/splc-indictment-and-trust.webp and add the front-matter line.
• zola check --skip-external-links passes clean (only pre-existing orphan warnings).
• McKenzie is linked at the top of the post and in the §1014 reference; the indictment statute is also linked to Cornell LII.

Test plan

• npm install && npm run build:ts && zola serve --drafts and read the post in-browser
• Confirm KC author card renders correctly (image + bio from config.toml [extra.authors])
• Decide whether to add a hero image before merging
• Sanity-check tone for USIPS voice