During a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, Republican Rep. Jim Jordan (OH-4) exposed how the Biden Justice Department opened—then deliberately shelved—a criminal investigation into the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
Jordan claimed the previous administration’s DOJ, under then-Attorney General Merrick Garland, discovered the SPLC was operating what has been described as a lucrative scam.
“They had opened an investigation. They were looking into this group. They knew the Southern Poverty Law Center was running a scam, but they dropped the case,” Jordan said.
He detailed how the group had become so deeply embedded with the department, training prosecutors and serving as a key source for efforts that labeled pro-life Catholics and conservatives as domestic extremists.
“When you meet with them, consult with them, have them train your prosecutors, well, guess what? You’re not gonna prosecute them,” Jordan explained. “They’re too valuable politically. You gotta use them for your political advantage. And that’s exactly what the Biden administration did.”
The Ohio congressman noted how the SPLC used the now-infamous “Richmond Memo” in an effort to portray traditional Catholics as politically extremist.
“That memo says, if you’re a pro-life Catholic, well, you’re an extremist, you’re dangerous,” Jordan said. “The SPLC became part of the weaponized effort of the Garland Biden Justice Department against the American people.”
Jordan also highlighted a stunning example from the SPLC’s own operations that underscores the alleged hate-for-profit model, which has been covered here at RedState. The Justice Department last month filed an 11-count federal indictment charging the SPLC with wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering for secretly funneling more than $3 million in donor cash to actual extremists.
Among those nefarious payments was a staggering $270,000 allegedly paid to a member of the online leadership chat group that planned the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. That paid insider attended the event at the SPLC’s direction, helped coordinate transportation for attendees, and even made racist postings under the group’s supervision.
“The Southern Poverty Law Center almost tripled their income. They went from $51 million annual income to $133 million,” Jordan said. “Turned out for them, creating hate was more profitable than fighting it. That’s exactly what they did. They ran a scam, they became the standard, they didn’t get prosecuted, and they made a ton of money.”
That rally, of course, led to the wholly media-manufactured “fine people” hoax. As Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche noted, the group had been caught “manufacturing racism,” which, in this particular case, indirectly led to the death of a rally attendee.
Hellbound and Down 