Charges Dropped Against Phony Journalist Who Doctored Planned Parenthood Videos
David Daleiden (center), with attorneys Peter Breen (left) and Jared Woodfill, exits the Harris County Courthouse after charges were dropped against the Center for Medical Progress founder in his investigation of
Planned Parenthood.
NEWS BRIEF A Texas judge dismissed Tuesday the last charge against two anti-abortion activists who made secret video recordings of their conversations with Planned Parenthood officials who described how the organization provided fetal tissue to medical researchers. The pro-life advocates underwent what many would call a political witch hunt and were charged for making undercover videos exposing Planned Parenthood's fetal organ harvesting scheme.
The Harris County charges were filed in January, months after CMP released videos garnered from a 30-month investigation into Planned Parenthood's fetal tissue donation program.
Texas authorities initially began a grand jury investigation of Planned Parenthood after the undercover videos were released last August.
The organization has said it never has and never would sell fetal tissue. When a gunman walked into a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic and started shooting because he didn't want them to be selling aborted fetuses.
However, doubts arose over the integrity of Anderson's office's handling of the case from the outset, as Planned Parenthood counsel Josh Schaffer made public the fact that the grand jury never voted on the charges against Planned Parenthood - a fact he could only have learned by a grand-jury secrecy violation - and instead pursued a line of inquiry he recommended to prosecutors in order to consider fresh charges against Daleiden and Merritt. It was all based on those video.
Notably, Harris has ties to Planned Parenthood, even receiving $15,000 in contributions from the abortion giant in 2014 during her AG reelection campaign. "Planned Parenthood did wrong here, not David Daleiden". Likewise, Assistant District Attorney Lauren Reeder has been a board member for Planned Parenthood of the Gulf Coast since 2013, LifeNews.com reports. Daleiden faced an additional misdemeanor charge, which carried up to a year behind bars, for attempting to buy human tissue. A grand jury ended up indicting Mr. Daleiden and Ms. Merritt, and taking no action against Planned Parenthood.
"The grand jury took the investigation where the facts led it, however Texas law limits what can be investigated after a grand jury extension order is issued", District Attorney Devon Anderson said in a statement.
The state of Kentucky is appealing a judge's decision to dismiss the lawsuit he filed against Planned Parenthood of IN and Kentucky. "This is not the same as finding that Daleiden is innocent of the criminal charges", the statement reads.
"I'm glad the First Amendment rights of all citizen journalists have been vindicated today".
CMP stands by its undercover videos as proof of Planned Parenthood wrongdoing.
One of Daleiden's lawyers argued that the charges are flawed because Meritt and Daleiden were indicted during the grand jury's extension period.
As per Planned Parenthood's official site, it has been trusted for almost a 100 years.