US DoJ launches investigation into Southern Poverty Law Center

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”.