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Ranking Member defends Southern Poverty Law Center, accuses DOJ of politicized prosecution
Summary
At a House Judiciary Committee hearing, the committee's Ranking Member defended the Southern Poverty Law Center, detailed its history confronting hate groups, and accused the Department of Justice under Acting AG Todd Blanche of pursuing a politically motivated 11-count indictment against the SPLC.
Ranking Member delivered a lengthy opening statement at a House Judiciary Committee hearing defending the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and criticizing actions by the Department of Justice.
The Ranking Member said the SPLC, “created in 1971 and headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama,” is “one of America's leading civil rights groups” and noted its history of confronting violent white supremacist groups and of being a target of attacks. He argued the organization’s work remains necessary because racist violence continues in the United States.
The Ranking Member cited recent mass attacks as evidence, listing El Paso, the Tree of Life synagogue shooting, the Buffalo supermarket massacre, the Charleston church shooting and the Atlanta spa killings to underscore his point that “racist violence still permeates our society.” He also referenced FBI data for 2024, saying the bureau recorded nearly 12,000 hate-crime episodes.
Turning to the criminal case, the Ranking Member defended SPLC investigative practices—saying the organization has used undercover informants and shared information with the FBI for decades—and described an 11-count indictment alleging donor fraud as part of a politically motivated campaign. “There’s nothing illegal about that,” he said of the SPLC’s undercover work, and later argued the indictment was an effort to “tear [SPLC] down.”
He contrasted the indictment with acknowledged fraud cases such as Trump University and noted that SPLC donors had continued to support the organization, saying donations had in fact increased since the indictment was filed. The Ranking Member also accused DOJ leadership of a broader pattern of politicized decisions, charging that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had moved to vacate convictions of certain January 6 defendants and pursued pardons and policy moves he characterized as favorable to right-wing extremists.
During the statement the Ranking Member named multiple officials and appointments as examples of what he described as an “extremist swamp” elevated within federal agencies. He predicted judges would reject portions of the government’s filings and repeatedly framed the indictment as part of an effort to “shame and ensnare” civil-rights advocates.
The Ranking Member closed by calling the prosecution “a tissue of lies” and said the committee’s reputation had been harmed by the case, asserting that federal courts would ultimately cast the prosecution aside.
The committee hearing continued with the Ranking Member’s opening statement as the primary focus; no formal vote or motion was recorded in the transcript provided.
