Man Behind Planned Parenthood Baby Body Parts Investigation Says AG Seized Undercover Videos in Raid
David Daleiden, the pro-life activist behind a series of undercover videos that revealed Planned Parenthood's scheme to profit off fetal tissue harvesting, said his home was raided by California authorities on Tuesday.
"Today, the California Attorney General's office of Kamala Harris, who was elected with tens of thousands of dollars from taxpayer-funded Planned Parenthood, seized all video footage showing Planned Parenthood's criminal trade in aborted baby parts, in addition to my personal information," said Daleiden in a statement released through the Facebook page of The Center for Medical Progress.
"Ironically, while seizing my First Amendment work product, they ignored documents showing the illicit scheme between StemExpress and Planned Parenthood. This is no surprise — Planned Parenthood's bought-and-paid-for AG has steadfastly refused to enforce the law against the baby body parts traffickers in our state, or even investigate them — while at the same time doing their bidding to harass and intimidate citizen journalists. We will pursue all remedies to vindicate our First Amendment rights. #PPSellsBabyParts," the statement ended.
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A spokeswoman for California Attorney General Kamala Harris, told The Washington Post that she could not comment on an ongoing investigation.
That report notes that California is now among a number of states looking into possible criminal activity on the part of Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress, which released a series of undercover videos purporting to show Planned Parenthood engaging in illegal activities, notably the selling of aborted baby body parts.
CMP's footage caused much controversy, renewing the years-old effort at the state and federal level to remove governments funds from Planned Parenthood.
Planned Parenthood and its allies denied that they had engaged in any unlawful activities, arguing that the money they received for selling the aborted baby parts was a legal reimbursement for costs associated with procuring the body parts.
Eventually, the abortion giant announced it would stop taking money for aborted baby body parts, a move that Daleiden and other pro-life advocates said proved Planned Parenthood's guilt.
After the March for Life in January, a Texas grand jury indicted Daleiden and 62-year-old Sandra Merritt on felony charges related to how they acquired the evidence for their undercover videos.
"The record-tampering charges accused Daleiden and Merritt of making and presenting fake California driver's licenses, with the intent to defraud, for their April meeting at Planned Parenthood in Houston," reported The New York Times.
"The fake IDs used by Daleiden and Merritt, images of which were included as exhibits in court documents, resemble California-issued licenses. Daleiden went by Robert Sarkis on his license, and Merritt used the name Susan Sarah Tennenbaum. Warrants were issued for each defendant with a bond amount of $10,000."
Matt Heffron, a former federal prosecutor in Phoenix, Arizona, who is now a legal adviser for Daleiden, called the raid in California outrageous.
"To storm into a private citizen's home with a search warrant is outrageously out of proportion for the type of crime alleged. It's a discredit to law enforcement, an oppressive abuse of government power," he said in a statement.
The National Abortion Federation, an organization that advocates for abortionists, praised the raid.
"We fully support a thorough investigation into the activities perpetrated by David Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress," President Vicki Saporta said in a statement highlighted by The Washington Post.
Saporta further charged that the videos have led to a spike in threats and violence against abortion clinics.
The Center for Medical Progress noted in a statement Wednesday that Planned Parenthood's baby body parts harvesting consent form misled women considering abortions into thinking that their aborted babies would be used to help treat and find cures for diseases like cancer and diabetes.
"Planned Parenthood's baby parts trafficking scheme cannot stand up to independent scrutiny. When a Planned Parenthood supporter and baby parts customer admits under oath that Planned Parenthood has been fraudulently inducing patient consent, it discredits all of Planned Parenthood's assurances that their baby parts scheme has operated legally and above-board," said Daleiden, in a statement Tuesday.
"Law enforcement in Planned Parenthood-friendly jurisdictions should stop wasting taxpayer resources to assist Planned Parenthood in harassing citizen journalists, and should stop ignoring the evidence of real fraud, baby body parts trafficking, and criminal abortion practices right in their own backyard."
