FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—The Southern Poverty Law Center, a left-leaning nonprofit, pressured a well-known figure in the Biden-Harris administration not to attend a bipartisan summit to promote religious freedom around the world, documents uncovered by The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project show.
According to the documents, first published by The Daily Signal, multiple SPLC staff and leaders reached out to the U.S. Agency for International Development to suggest that USAID Administrator Samantha Power, who previously served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President Barack Obama, should not attend the bipartisan International Religious Freedom Summit in 2023.
“We have several concerns about this summit, in particular that some of the featured speakers belong to SPLC-designated hate groups and are well known for their anti-LGBTQ beliefs,” Susan Corke, director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project, wrote in a Jan. 25, 2023, email to leaders at USAID ahead of the summit, held Jan. 31-Feb. 2.
“We realize at this point the event is close and speakers are likely locked in, but we hope that there will be strong counter messages against such hateful beliefs,” Corke wrote.
In that email, Corke noted her previous experience with Power when she was Obama’s U.N. ambassador.
“I know she is a strong advocate against hate and extremism and for inclusive, civil society coalitions,” Corke wrote.
The annual International Religious Freedom Summit involves members of atheist, Baha’i, Eastern Orthodox, Falun Gong, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Sikh, and Yazidi organizations, along with Christian minorities such as Assyrians and Copts.
Speakers often address religious persecution around the world, from the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, to the Uyghur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists in China, to the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. Yet the Southern Poverty Law Center suggested Power should distance herself from the summit because it includes organizations that the SPLC brands “hate groups.”
USAID, an independent federal agency responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance, represents America to the world. It therefore should advocate key American values such as religious freedom.
The SPLC did not respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment about the emails.
Two days after Corke’s email (sent on the Friday before the summit began on a Monday), two SPLC staffers reached out to USAID, perhaps representing a “carrot” and “stick” approach.
Michael Lieberman, the SPLC’s senior policy counsel for hate and extremism, sent a morning email warning that Power’s appearance at the summit might “mainstream” the “anti-LGBTQ movement.” Taking the “carrot” approach, Lieberman offered research to help, suggesting that Power........