The Southern Poverty Law Center, which over 60 years has developed a reputation for suing white supremacist groups, said Tuesday it is under criminal investigation by the Justice Department for paying informants to infiltrate extremist organizations.
The SPLC says it did, indeed, pay informants in the past, though it no longer does so. The goal was to gather information for civil litigation against violent, racist groups. Information was also shared with law enforcement.
The Justice Department has not commented on the investigation. However, the SPLC’s chief executive, Bryan Fair, released a video statement Tuesday on his organization’s website.
“Although we don’t know all the details, the focus appears to be on the SPLC’s prior use of paid confidential informants to gather credible intelligence on extremely violent groups,” Fair said.
He defended the organization’s use of paid informants.
“When we began working with informants, we were living in the shadow of the height of the Civil Rights Movement, which had seen bombings at churches, state-sponsored violence against demonstrators, and the murders of activists that went unanswered by the justice system,” Fair said. “There is no question that what we learned from informants saved lives.”
But conservative critics have accused the SPLC of unfairly targeting right-wing groups as extremist groups only because of their viewpoints. SPLC has also condemned President Donald Trump’s policies and rhetoric.
The criminal investigation comes in the wake of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The SPLC came under new scrutiny after it included Kirk’s group, Turning Point USA, in a report called “The Year in Hate and Extremism 2024.” The report documented 1,370 hate and anti-government extremist groups.
FBI Director Kash Patel terminated the federal agency’s relationship with the SPLC at the urging of MAGA supporters, including Elon Musk.