Ethics officials say the Trump administration is weaponizing law enforcement against civil rights group for counter-extremism efforts.

Following is a statement by Norman L. Eisen, former special counsel to President Barack Obama; Richard W. Painter, former associate counsel to President George W. Bush, and Virginia Canter, former associate counsel to Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton:

“The Trump administration has unethically abused its power to indict the Southern Poverty Law Center. Its supposed crime involves paying informants to expose and prevent violence by the KKK, neo-Nazis, and other hate groups. This is core to counter-extremism work, and it’s exactly what the DOJ and FBI should be doing–not attacking legendary civil rights organizations.

“Indeed, that is what the DOJ and FBI used to do, including with this very information that SPLC provided to them. The claim that this is somehow a fraud on SPLC’s donors may come as a shock to those donors. We will not stay silent while the administration weaponizes the tools of law enforcement to attack groups it disagrees with. SPLC is ideologically opposed to hate groups and hate crimes. We stand with SPLC and will support them in every way.”

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