Bryan Fair, interim president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center, appeared before the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. He faced questions from Chairman Jim Jordan about a superseding federal indictment alleging misuse of donor funds.
Fair repeatedly declined to answer yes-or-no questions directly, referring instead to counsel in the Middle District of Alabama. The indictment claims the organization paid field sources a total of $4 million to infiltrate extremist groups, host rallies, recruit members, and purchase materials for events including cross burnings. It also names several alleged shell companies used to obscure payments. Fair acknowledged that the group ran the program to protect our staff and to protect the public and confirmed that it has since announced plans to shut it down. He attributed a jump in donations from $51 million to $133 million to the 2016 election rather than the 2017 Charlottesville rally, where the indictment alleges one paid source helped coordinate transportation. Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King Jr., also testified at the hearing. She called for transparency and accountability in how donor funds are used, stating that Americans deserve transparency and accountability about how those funds are being used.
