SPLC Faces Justice Dept. Probe Over Informants

0:00The Southern Poverty Law Center is facing a U.S. Justice Department criminal probe over its past use of paid informants to sneak into extremists. Groups? The civil rights non-profit says those informants gather key intel on threats, shared it with the FBI and other agencies, and straight-up saved. Lives. CEO Brian Fair broke the news this week, stressing they kept it quiet to protect everyone involved. Founded 55 years ago by Alabama lawyer Morris D's, the group started by taking pro bono cases to fight lingering Jim Crow discrimination in. The South. They pushed desegregation winds like integrating state troopers in public spots. By the 1980s, they ramped up with clan watch. Later, the intelligence project, tracking white supremacists and other hate outfits even, sowing some. That word drew fire literally. Ku Klux clan members torched their Montgomery offices on July 28, 1983, wrecking files and gear, three got prison time, after pleading guilty. Flush with donor cash,

1:03their endowment hit nearly $7.32 million last fall. Conservatives have long slammed the Center for labeling groups like focus on the family over anti-LGBTQ views, calling it smears. He cranked up after conservative activist Charlie Kirk's assassination on a Utah campus in September 2025. His turning point, USA was flagged in their hate report. FBI director Cash Patel then cut ties, dubbing them a partisan machine. Now with the DOJ digging in and old partnerships frayed, the Center's legacy hangs in the balance as threats keep coming. I'm Cory with the story and you've been listening to Durham News today, AI-powered local news.