The House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on Wednesday for documents related to its coordination with the Biden-Harris administration and funding of extremists.

The subpoena was announced after a committee hearing on Wednesday that scrutinized the SPLC. The committee also announced that SPLC interim CEO Bryan Fair will appear before it on June 9.

 

"The Committee also subpoenaed the SPLC for documents about its coordination with the Biden-Harris Administration and funding of extremists," a House Judiciary spokesperson said on X on Wednesday night. 

U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), House Judiciary Committee chairman, said in a letter to the SPLC that the committee was considering "legislative reforms" concerning the Department of Justice and groups like the SPLC.

"In light of the SPLC's close coordination with the Biden-Harris Administration on civil rights matters, the Committee may consider legislative reforms addressing the ability of the Department of Justice to rely on non-governmental organizations in carrying out its law enforcement responsibilities," Jordan said.

A Montgomery grand jury returned an indictment in April charging the SPLC  with 11 counts of wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank and money laundering. 

The United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Alabama Northern Division filed two forfeiture actions to recover alleged proceeds from the organization's fraud scheme. 

The FBI investigated the case with assistance from the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation Division.

According to the indictment, starting in the 1980s, the SPLC began operating a covert network of individuals who were either associated with violent and extremist groups, such as the Ku Klux Klan, or who had infiltrated violent extremist groups at the SPLC's direction. Unbeknownst to donors, some of their donated money was being used to fund the leaders and organizers of racist groups at the same time that the SPLC was denouncing the same groups on its website, according to the DOJ. 

The SPLC pleaded not guilty to the charges at a May hearing in federal court in Montgomery. A trial has been set for October.

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