House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) has called for the Department of Justice to provide information on the department’s Biden-era collaboration with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
“The committee is continuing to investigate the Biden-Harris Department of Justice’s and Federal Bureau of Investigation’s weaponization of federal law-enforcement resources against conservative Americans,” Jordan wrote in a letter obtained by The Daily Signal. “Publicly available information demonstrates that the DOJ, during Attorney General Merrick Garland’s tenure, colluded with the radical, left-wing Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) on matters relating to federal civil rights enforcement.”
Jordan explained that the SPLC’s influence over federal law enforcement during the Biden administration is “deeply concerning.”
“The SPLC routinely maligns conservative and religious organizations, such as Turning Point USA, Family Research Council, and Moms for Liberty, as ‘hate’ groups simply because the SPLC disagrees with their views,” the letter adds. “The fact that the Biden-Harris DOJ would foster a close relationship with the SPLC, knowing its biased political ideology, is concerning and just more evidence of the Biden-Harris Administration’s weaponization of the federal government against certain Americans.”
A recent report from the SPLC described Turning Point USA as a “well-funded, hard-right organization with links to SPLC-identified extremists and a tremendous amount of influence in conservative politics,” claiming it promotes “authoritarian, patriarchal Christian supremacy.”
FBI Director Kash Patel announced in October that the bureau cut ties with the SPLC.
In a statement posted to social media, Patel said the SPLC “long ago abandoned civil rights work and turned into a partisan smear machine.”
“Their so-called ‘hate map’ has been used to defame mainstream Americans and even inspired violence,” Patel wrote. “That disgraceful record makes them unfit for any FBI partnership. In April, during our Anti-Christian Bias Panel, I made it clear that the FBI will never rely on politicized or agenda-driven intelligence from outside groups — and certainly not from the SPLC. Under this FBI, all ties with the SPLC have officially been terminated.”
