VIDEO: SPLC HOUSE HEARING : MORE HATE means MORE MONEY- Bombshell testimony
Republican lawmakers sharply questioned Southern Poverty Law Center leadership Tuesday over allegations the organization secretly paid members of the Ku Klux Klan and other extremist groups using donor funds, as the civil rights group defended its long-standing use of confidential informants to monitor hate organizations.
The tense House Judiciary Committee hearing comes as the Justice Department pursues a criminal case against the SPLC, accusing the organization of using roughly $4 million in donor money to fund informants embedded inside white supremacist and extremist groups.
A superseding federal indictment filed last week alleges some of that money was used to encourage informants to remain inside extremist organizations, including funding activities tied to rallies, recruitment efforts, and the purchase of materials connected to KKK events.
House Judiciary Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, repeatedly pressed SPLC Interim President and CEO Bryan Fair over whether donor funds were used to support extremist activities.
"Was it all about the money?" Jordan asked, referencing a fundraising increase following the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. SPLC donor funds were allegedly paid to an informant who helped organize that rally.