US congressional panel asks Southern Poverty Law Center boss to testify

The chairman of ​the Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives ​Judiciary Committee on Tuesday asked ‌the Southern ​Poverty Law Center's boss to testify before the panel in May after the civil rights group was indicted ‌last week.

Here are some details: * President Donald Trump's administration obtained a criminal indictment last week charging SPLC with defrauding its own donors by using paid informants to infiltrate ‌far-right organizations.

* SPLC is a civil rights group that tracks political extremists. It ‌condemned last week's charges as "false allegations." * "We respectfully request your testimony at a hearing of the Committee on the Judiciary on May 20, 2026," U.S. Representative Jim Jordan from Trump's Republican Party said ⁠in a ​letter to Bryan ⁠Fair, SPLC's interim president and CEO.

* Many rights advocates have raised alarm over what they call ⁠the Trump administration's crackdown on civil rights groups and voices of dissent. * The 55-year-old law ​center had long shared information it collected with the FBI and other ⁠law enforcement groups before the Trump administration cut ties with the SPLC six months ago.

* The ⁠congressional ​hearing will examine the role that SPLC "has played in distorting federal civil rights policy in recent years," Jordan said in his letter on ⁠Tuesday. * Jordan claimed SPLC's reports on hate in the U.S. included a "highly partisan understanding ⁠of 'hate'" against conservatives.

* SPLC says ⁠its program of paid informants has "saved lives" and was not a secret to the federal government. * The FBI also uses paid ‌informants ‌in its investigations.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)