Justice Department Investigates Southern Poverty Law Center Over Informant Use

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a civil rights nonprofit known for tracking white supremacist and hate groups, is facing a federal criminal investigation related to its use of paid confidential informants. The probe, led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Alabama, focuses on the organization’s past practice of employing informants to infiltrate violent extremist groups.

Bryan Fair, the interim CEO of the SPLC, addressed the investigation in a video posted Tuesday, describing it as a “serious” threat involving possible charges against the group or its employees. Fair emphasized that the informants “risked their lives to infiltrate and inform on the activities of our nation’s most radical and violent extremist groups,” providing intelligence that was shared with the FBI and helped save lives.

“This use of informants was necessary because we are no stranger to threats of violence,” Fair said, recalling that the SPLC’s offices were firebombed in 1983 and that staff have faced numerous credible threats since. He noted the organization’s decades-long litigation efforts to dismantle the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups, highlighting its commitment to protecting both its staff and the public.

The Justice Department has not publicly confirmed the investigation, adhering to its policy of neither confirming nor denying inquiries. The Middle District of Alabama, where the SPLC is based, is overseen by Acting U.S. Attorney Kevin Davidson, a career federal prosecutor since 2012.

The investigation emerges amid heightened scrutiny by the Justice Department of nonprofits accused of involvement with or funding domestic terrorism. It is unclear whether the SPLC probe is connected to this broader initiative. The SPLC itself has stated it does not know the legal basis for the investigation.

Relations between the SPLC and federal law enforcement have deteriorated recently. In October, FBI Director Kash Patel severed all ties with the SPLC, labeling it a “partisan smear machine.” Patel and other Trump administration allies have accused the SPLC of bias, including claims that it unfairly targets conservative and Christian groups such as Turning Point USA, the Family Research Council, and Moms for Liberty.

The SPLC was also the subject of a Republican-led congressional hearing in December, where a senior executive from Turning Point USA accused the group of “weaponizing the ‘hate’ label against ideological opponents.” Patel further alleged in a draft report on “anti-Christian bias” that the SPLC and the Anti-Defamation League provided false information to the FBI, which contributed to an internal intelligence memo linking racially motivated violent extremists with radical Catholic ideology. An internal FBI review later found no malicious intent in the memo’s creation but noted procedural failures and insufficient evidence.

Fair condemned the federal government’s actions as an attempt to “dismantle the rights of our nation’s most vulnerable people and any organization like ours that stands in the breach.” He vowed that the SPLC would “vigorously defend ourselves, our staff, and our work; we will continue to fight hate; and we will continue to seek a safer and more just world.”