Jim Jordan asks SPLC interim head Bryan Fair to testify before Congress over funding KKK, white supremacist groups

Republican House Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan has formally requested testimony from the Southern Poverty Law Center interim boss, setting a date for a May hearing date as the organization faces a criminal indictment. In a letter sent Tuesday to SPLC interim president and CEO Bryan Fair, Rep. Jim Jordan wrote, "We respectfully request your testimony at a hearing of the Committee on the Judiciary on May 20, 2026," according to the correspondence.
 

The request comes after the Trump administration last week secured an indictment accusing the organization of wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering. The group is alleged to have paid out millions of dollars to "field sources" that were a part of groups such as the KKK, neo-Nazi groups, and a Unite the Right rally organizer. 

Jordan said the upcoming hearing will focus on the group’s broader activities, writing that it will examine the role SPLC "has played in distorting federal civil rights policy in recent years."

"Although the SPLC started with the commendable goal of providing pro bono legal services to indigent defendants, it has shifted in recent times to focusing on an ever-evolving, highly partisan understanding of 'hate.' The SPLC has labeled some mainstream conservative groups as so-called 'hate groups' based solely upon the group’s conservative or Christian ideology," the letter reads.

"The SPLC publishes a so-called 'hate' map that has led to attacks against conservative organizations, including a shooting at the Family Research Council in 2012. The Biden-Harris Administration relied on the SPLC for civil rights issues, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation using SPLC material to target traditional Catholics as potential domestic terrorists. Recently released information reveals that the SPLC has funneled money to some extremists, raising questions whether the SPLC has been artificially elevating the domestic extremist threat and potentially misleading donors to the SPLC."

He also criticized the organization’s reporting practices, claiming its materials reflect a "highly partisan understanding of 'hate'" against conservatives.

The SPLC, founded 55 years ago, was known for tracking supposedly genuine extremist movements, having historically shared research with federal law enforcement agencies. Under the Trump administration, ties were cut with the group. The group is now alleged to have made payouts to several of these hate groups.  In public statements following the indictment, SPLC claimed its use of paid informants has "saved lives" and said that the practice was not concealed from federal authorities.