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 credible intelligence on extremely violent groups”. Fair said the group used to use paid informants to infiltrate extremist groups and monitor them, but no longer does.

“This use of informants was necessary because we are no stranger to threats of violence. In 1983, our offices were firebombed, and in the years since, there have been countless credible threats against our staff,” he said. “For decades, we engaged in unprecedented litigation to dismantle the Klan and other hate groups. In light of that work, we sought to protect the safety of our staff and the public.”

The investigation comes as the Trump administration has pledged to crack down on non-profit groups opposed to its priorities. Conservative groups have long decried the way the SPLC has labelled certain right-leaning groups as “hate groups”.