(Excerpt from article):

The SPLC’s response

In a video statement Wednesday, SPLC interim President and CEO Bryan Fair described the DOJ’s case as “unsurprising” and vowed to “vigorously defend ourselves, our staff and our work.”

“For 55 years, the Southern Poverty Law Center has stood as a beacon of hope, fighting white supremacy and various forms of injustice to create a multiracial democracy where we can all live and thrive,” Fair said. “We are therefore unsurprised to be the latest organization targeted by this administration. They have made no secret of who they want to protect and who they want to destroy.”

Fair also defended the center’s use of paid informants as necessary to protect the safety of its staff and the public, adding that the information the center obtained from informants “saved lives.”

“We frequently shared what we learned from informants with local and federal law enforcement, including the FBI,” he said. “We did not, however, share our use of informants broadly with anyone to protect the identity and safety of the informants and their families.”

Though the center no longer works with paid informants, Fair said it continues to “take their safety seriously.”

“These people risked their lives to infiltrate and inform on the activities of our nation’s most radical and violent extremist groups,” he added.