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FIRST ON FOX: SPLC’s legal woes grow as Jim Jordan fires latest salvo at left-wing group
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FIRST ON FOX: The House Judiciary Committee escalated scrutiny of the Southern Poverty Law Center on Thursday, demanding documents from the nonprofit after a federal indictment alleged the group funneled millions in donor funds to extremist organizations.
Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, wrote in a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital to SPLC President Bryan Fair that the GOP-led committee was investigating any coordination between the SPLC and the Biden Department of Justice and FBI, both of which had used the left-wing nonprofit as a resource.
Jordan demanded a slate of documents from the SPLC by April 30, a request that comes after his Republican counterparts in the Senate also ramped up scrutiny of the SPLC and after acting Attorney General Todd Blanche hinted at more possible indictments related to the group.
The intensifying investigations into the SPLC, expanding from the DOJ to Congress, come after Jordan’s committee previously investigated the group, saying it was known for «maligning several mainstream conservative and religious organizations as ‘hate groups,’» such as Moms for Liberty and Turning Point USA, and that the Biden DOJ improperly used it for civil rights enforcement.
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House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, speaks during a committee session. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)
«Publicly available documents revealed how the Justice Department partnered closely with the SPLC during the Biden-Harris Administration, including scheduling regular meetings, giving the SPLC early access to federal law-enforcement data, and allowing SPLC employees to train federal prosecutors,» Jordan wrote. «The new information about the SPLC alleged in the indictment only raises further questions.»
Jordan also noted that a controversial internal memo originating from the FBI Richmond Field Office during Director Christopher Wray’s tenure, which framed so-called radical-traditionalist Catholics as a group of people more prone to violent crime, used the SPLC as a source for its findings. The memo surfaced in 2023, with Wray later retracting it and saying it was an «appalling» breach of religious freedom.
Jordan’s letter pointed out that the Richmond memo was among more than a dozen FBI documents that used the SPLC as a resource.
The DOJ on Tuesday charged the SPLC with several counts of wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank and conspiracy to commit money laundering, alleging the group defrauded donors for more than a decade.
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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche spoke during a press conference alongside FBI Director Kash Patel at the Department of Justice April 21, 2026, in Washington, D.C., about the indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center on charges related to money laundering. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Prosecutors said the nonprofit, which promotes its efforts to fight White supremacy, misled donors by using shell companies to mask how donor funds were used. More than $3 million was paid through the shell companies to informants who participated in activities involving the Ku Klux Klan and the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement, among others, prosecutors alleged.
«The SPLC’s paid informants … engaged in the active promotion of racist groups at the same time that the SPLC was denouncing the same groups on its website,» prosecutors wrote, noting one informant allegedly went so far as to help plan the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
«Congress has an important interest in protecting Americans from extremist violence and criminal activity,» Jordan wrote in his letter. «The Committee on the Judiciary has been conducting oversight of the Biden-Harris Administration’s close coordination with the SPLC on federal civil rights matters.»
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Neo-Nazis, the alt-right and White supremacists take part in the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. (Zach D Roberts/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday set its sights on a woman previously affiliated with the SPLC who was a federal judge and Biden appointee serving a lifetime appointment on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.
«Every individual associated with SPLC should have to answer for what they knew about the organization’s extremist ties, and when,» committee Republicans wrote in a statement on X.
«That includes Nancy Abudu, SPLC’s former litigation director who Biden appointed as a lifetime judge on the 11th Circuit.»
Just before the DOJ announced charges, Fair said in a public statement that the federal investigation was political rather than sincere.
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«They have made no secret of who they want to protect and who they want to destroy,» Fair said, noting the group no longer works with paid informants but adding they had «risked their lives» to infiltrate extremist groups.
Fox News Digital reached out to the SPLC and Abudu’s chambers for comment.
house of representatives politics, jim jordan, politics, justice department
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South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden fended off a primary challenge from businessman and Bitcoin evangelist Toby Doeden on Tuesday, winning the first gubernatorial primary runoff in state history and advancing to the November general election.
The Associated Press called the race for Rhoden within minutes of final polls closing. He had received 70.5% of the vote compared with Doeden’s 29.5% at the time it was called, with approximately 25% of the expected vote counted.
The election marked the first time South Dakota voters were asked to settle a gubernatorial nomination through a primary runoff. State law requires a runoff between the two leading candidates when no contender for governor, U.S. Senate or U.S. House receives at least 35% of the primary vote.
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South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden (left) and primary challenger Republican candidate for governor Toby Doeden (right) (Toby Doeden for South Dakota/Getty Images)
The head-to-head contest followed a four-way June primary in which Doeden finished first with 30.6% of the vote and Rhoden placed second with 25.2%, leaving both short of the 35% needed to secure the nomination outright. Rhoden became governor in early 2025 after Kristi Noem left to join the Trump administration, while Doeden entered the race as a businessman and political newcomer.
Doeden also built a public profile as a Bitcoin evangelist. He said he began investing «very, very heavily» in the cryptocurrency around 2020 after devoting roughly 500 hours to researching it, eventually converting nearly all the cash reserves from his companies that he did not expect to need into Bitcoin.
«I will buy bitcoin forever, every single day,» Doeden previously said on his podcast, according to the South Dakota Searchlight. «We mine bitcoin, we buy bitcoin.»
Doeden also supported legislation that would have allowed the South Dakota Investment Council, which manages public employee pension funds and other state investments, to invest in Bitcoin. He went further by calling for South Dakota to establish a state Bitcoin reserve – a move state investment and budget officials opposed.
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Tuesday’s winner advances to face former Democratic state Sen. Dan Ahlers in November. South Dakota has not had a Democratic governor since Harvey Wollman left office in 1979, and no Democrat has been elected to the office there since Richard Kneip won re-election in 1974. Wollman became governor automatically as lieutenant governor when Kneip resigned.
In the run-up to Tuesday’s primary runoff, property taxes were among the defining issues of the campaign. Doeden campaigned on eliminating property taxes, while Rhoden’s campaign portrayed Doeden’s proposal as fiscally reckless, arguing it could leave local governments and schools with a major funding shortfall.
Meanwhile, Rhoden’s campaign highlighted other tax relief measures that the governor signed back in March, which Rhoden’s campaign website describes as the «largest» property tax cut in the state’s history.
South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden speaks during a rally at Mount Rushmore National Memorial on July 03, 2026 in Keystone, South Dakota. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
During the race, Doeden portrayed Rhoden as part of South Dakota’s entrenched political class, declaring after the June primary that «the career politicians told me» an outsider could not break through against three longtime officeholders.
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Rhoden pushed back on the attack, saying Doeden was trying to «make hay» out of calling him a career politician and describing that characterization as «such a warped viewpoint,» during an interview with the South Dakota Public Broadcasting network. Rhoden argued that his years in the Legislature gave him practical experience writing laws and then returning home to live under them.
President Donald Trump did not publicly weigh in with an endorsement in the runoff, according to a review by Fox News Digital. Trump thanked Rhoden by name during his July 3 remarks at Mount Rushmore but did not mention the governor’s race. Doeden, meanwhile, campaigned as a «fierce Trump supporter» who said he would help implement the president’s «America First agenda.»
south dakota, gubernatorial, state and local primaries, elections, politics
INTERNACIONAL
Benjamin Netanyahu y Donald Trump buscaron limar asperezas en el primer encuentro desde el inicio de la guerra en Oriente Medio
El presidente estadounidense, Donald Trump, recibió el martes al primer ministro israelí, Benjamin Netanyahu, en una reunión calificada de «positiva» por ambas partes, que les permitió reafirmar su rechazo a que Irán se dote de armas nucleares.
Fue el primer encuentro entre ambos desde los ataques conjuntos de Estados Unidos e Israel contra Irán el 28 de febrero, que desató la guerra en Oriente Medio, y tras desacuerdos públicos sobre el conflicto.
En un video difundido por el propio Netanyahu, el primer ministro israelí aseguró haber tenido «una de las mejores conversaciones que he tenido con el presidente de Estados Unidos» y que ambos se ratificaron en su objetivo común: «asegurarse de que Irán no obtiene armas nucleares».
«Fue una reunión extremadamente positiva», había dicho antes una fuente cercana a Netanyahu. La reunión fue «positiva y productiva», detalló por su parte la Casa Blanca.
Fue el octavo encuentro entre ambos mandatarios desde que Trump regresó a la Casa Blanca, en enero de 2025.
Sin embargo, la cita a puerta cerrada, que duró alrededor de hora y media y tras la cual los participantes no tuvieron ningún intercambio con la prensa, no disipa la impresión de discrepancias entre ellos.
Sus relaciones tocaron fondo en abril durante las negociaciones de un alto al fuego con Teherán, cuando Trump cargó con insultos contra Netanyahu y lo describió como un «tipo muy difícil».
Netanyahu se esforzó en las últimas semanas en restar importancia a esas diferencias calificándolas de «desacuerdos tácticos».
La visita de Netanyahu tiene lugar en un «momento crítico para Oriente Medio», mientras Irán sigue «priorizando el terrorismo antes que las negociaciones» y bloqueando el estrecho de Ormuz, vía marítima estratégica, declaró más temprano el martes Danny Danon, embajador de Israel ante las Naciones Unidas.
Washington afirma ahora querer dar una nueva oportunidad a la diplomacia tras dos semanas de bombardeos sin precedentes desde la tregua de abril. Israel no participó en esta última ronda de ataques.
Según Yonatan Freeman, experto en relaciones internacionales en la Universidad Hebrea de Jerusalén, el objetivo de ambos era disipar las especulaciones sobre un enfriamiento de las relaciones.
Trump afronta unas difíciles elecciones legislativas el 3 de noviembre, y Netanyahu elecciones generales el 27 de octubre.
«La principal cuestión es mostrar al mundo entero, a Irán, pero también al Líbano y a otros países en particular, que no hay ruptura ni desacuerdo mayor entre Estados Unidos e Israel», declaró este experto a la AFP.
Los últimos sondeos sitúan a Netanyahu en dificultades, ya que una parte de la opinión pública le reprocha el fracaso de su gobierno en impedir el ataque de Hamás del 7 de octubre de 2023, que desencadenó la guerra en Gaza.
Trump separa oficialmente la ofensiva contra Irán de la situación en Líbano, donde Israel mantiene su propio pulso con Hezbollah, el movimiento aliado de Teherán.
Washington quiere sin embargo pacificar toda la región, donde las dificultades para transportar crudo y gas están impactando en la inflación en Estados Unidos.
Al ser interrogado el martes sobre informaciones según las cuales Irán está fortificando la montaña Kolang, donde podría tener importantes instalaciones nucleares, Trump respondió: «No necesito que Bibi (el apodo de Netanyahu) me diga eso. Bibi me dice eso porque quiere que siga implicado».
«Sé exactamente lo que está pasando en Kolang, no es un gran problema. Si no llegamos a un acuerdo, la destruiremos muy fácilmente», dijo en el canal Fox News antes del encuentro.
Otro de los puntos importantes entre ambos países es la situación en la Franja de Gaza. Varios medios israelíes, citando fuentes políticas, han informado de que el gabinete de seguridad había aprobado el marco jurídico que permite el despliegue de una fuerza internacional de estabilización (ISF) en Gaza, una decisión presentada como un gesto hacia Washington.
Esta fuerza internacional, que se inscribe en el marco del «Consejo de Paz» impulsado por Donald Trump, constituye uno de los componentes del dispositivo estadounidense previsto para la posguerra en Gaza, devastada tras dos años de guerra.
INTERNACIONAL
Iran inmates sew lips shut in mass hunger strike at notorious US-sanctioned jail: report
Iran ramps up repression of political dissidents, executions surge
Fox News correspondent Greg Palkot reports that Iran’s repression of its people has worsened, with nearly 50 executions in the past three months and 6,000 arbitrary detentions. Hadi Ghaemi, Director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran, describes the regime’s actions as unchecked, making normal life impossible for dissidents.
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More than 1,000 inmates death-row inmates held in a unit of Iran’s Ghezel Hesar Prison have entered a third week of a mass hunger strike to protest regime executions, with some prisoners sewing their lips shut in protest, according to reports.
The escalating demonstration at the U.S.-sanctioned Ghezel Hesar Prison in Karaj near Tehran, also highlights growing international concern over the Islamic Republic’s reliance on capital punishment, particularly for drug-related offenses.
According to the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), the hunger strike started on July 13, after six inmates were transferred to solitary confinement ahead of possible executions. Other Iranian human rights groups said the prisoners had been convicted of drug-related offenses.
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State executions go up under Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. 4/22/25 (Nooses: Photo by Loredana Sangiuliano/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images, President of Iran: Photo by Iranian Presidency/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Reports also indicate that the striking prisoners have been chanting «No to Execution» and taking extreme measures, including sewing their lips shut.
One media outlet cited a video that appeared to show an inmate speaking to the camera and saying he was going to sew his lips shut because, six days into the hunger strike, no prison official had responded to the protest.
The Guardian reported that the video also appears to show an unseen prisoner using a needle and thread to stitch the man’s lips shut.
In a statement released on July 27, the exiled Iranian opposition group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), reported that prisoners in Unit 2 of Ghezel Hesar Prison were in «deteriorating physical condition» because of the hunger strike.
«Although 15 days have passed since the start of this hunger strike, the henchmen of the regime’s judiciary have given no response to the striking prisoners. Despite the prisoners’ deteriorating physical condition and urgent need for medical attention, prison guards have taken no measures to care for them,» the organization said.
FREED AMERICAN REVEALS BRUTAL IRAN PRISON ORDEAL, WARNS HOSTAGES FACE GREATER DANGER
The NCRI also said the striking prisoners urged the public, human rights organizations and international bodies to take action to halt the executions.
This marks the second major demonstration at the facility in recent months.
A similar protest occurred at Ghezel Hesar Prison in October 2025, when more than 1,500 inmates staged a six-day hunger strike, according to reports.
That demonstration ended after senior judicial and prison officials made a visit to the facility and promised to temporarily halt executions and review cases.
However, human rights activists report those promises were never fulfilled, according to Ynet.
COULD NARGES MOHAMMADI UNITE IRAN’S OPPOSITION? HUSBAND SAYS IMPRISONED NOBEL LAUREATE STILL FIGHTING
Antony Blinken, United States Secretary of State, speaks during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021, during the 76th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, Pool)
The State Department had designated and sanctioned Ghezel Hesar Prison in 2024 for gross human rights violations and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of prisoners.
«These heinous acts included multiple severe beatings of political prisoners engaged in a peaceful hunger strike to protest the increased wave of executions being carried out at the facility,» then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the time.
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According to Amnesty International, the Islamic Republic of Iran executed at least 2,159 people in 2025.
Iran’s total helped drive the number of executions recorded by Amnesty International to at least 2,707 across 17 countries — the highest figure the organization has recorded since 1981. The total excludes China, where execution data is classified as a state secret and Amnesty believes thousands of executions were carried out.
iran, human rights, human rights united nations
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