A top Republican lawmaker in the House of Representatives has summoned the leader of a prominent civil rights organization to appear before Congress next month after federal prosecutors brought criminal charges against the group.
Representative Jim Jordan, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, sent a formal request Tuesday to Bryan Fair, the interim president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center, asking him to appear at a May 20, 2026 committee hearing.
The request comes after the Trump administration secured a criminal indictment against the SPLC last week, alleging the organization misled its financial supporters by employing paid sources to penetrate far-right groups.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors political extremist movements across the country, has dismissed the charges, calling them “false allegations.”
In his letter to Fair, Jordan stated the hearing would investigate how the SPLC “has played in distorting federal civil rights policy in recent years.” The Republican congressman also accused the organization of presenting a “highly partisan understanding of ‘hate’” that targets conservative viewpoints in its research on extremism in America.
Civil rights advocates have expressed concern about what they describe as the current administration’s campaign against organizations that advocate for civil rights and challenge government policies.
The 55-year-old organization had maintained a long-standing relationship with federal law enforcement agencies, regularly providing intelligence to the FBI and other agencies, until the Trump administration severed those connections six months ago.
SPLC officials defend their informant operations, stating the program has “saved lives” and was conducted with full knowledge of federal authorities. They note that the FBI similarly employs paid sources in its own investigative work.
