US DoJ launches investigation into Southern Poverty Law Center

Sam Levine in New YorkGuardian - WorldUpdated Apr 22, 2026, 12:25 AM

Justice department’s focus seems to be on SPLC’s prior use of paid informants to monitor hate groups, group’s CEO says The Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a prominent civil rights organization, the group’s CEO said on Tuesday. Bryan Fair, the CEO of the SPLC, said the details of the investigation were not entirely clear, though “the focus appears to be on the SPLC’s prior use of paid confidential informants to gather credib

Justice department’s inquiry focused on the civil rights organization’s prior use of paid informants to monitor hate groups, the CEO said

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a prominent civil rights organization, has been indicted on federal fraud charges related to past payments it made to confidential informants to infiltrate extremist groups including the Ku Klux Klan, the justice department announced on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, said an Alabama grand jury returned an 11-count indictment against the civil rights group in the case brought by the justice department in Alabama, where the organization is based. The charges include wire fraud, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

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