Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa
Several Planned Parenthood affiliates have been referred by a Senate committee to the Department of Justice for investigation and possible prosecution for their involvement in a baby body parts trade that was exposed in 2015 through a video sting operation.
The videos contained interviews with Planned Parenthood and other abortion industry officials in which they negotiated over the price of the body parts of aborted infants, one famously suggesting higher pay because, "I want a Lamborghini."
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The U.S. House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives also previously recommended a contractor, StemExpress, an organ procurement company, be cited with contempt for refusing congressional requests for information about the scandal.
Now, a letter from Sen. Charles Grassley the chairman of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, to Attorney General Loretta Lynch and FBI Director James Comey, posted online by Operation Rescue, provides the details.
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"In the summer of 2015, the Senate Judiciary Committee began an inquiry into paid fetal tissue transfers involving Planned Parenthood. The committee has since obtained and reviewed more than 20,000 pages of information from the organizations involved, and engaged in detail discussions with the attorneys for those organizations," Grassley writes.
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"The report documents the failure of the Department of Justice, across multiple administrations, to enforce the law that bans the buying or selling of human fetal tissue … with even a single prosecution," the letter said, referring to a 547-page report by the Senate committee.
"It also documents substantial evidence suggesting that the specific entities involved in the recent controversy, and/or individuals employed by those entities, may have violated that law. Moreover, that evidence is contained in those entities' own records, which were voluntarily provided to the committee and are detailed in the report.
"I am referring the paid fetal tissue practices of the following organizations … to the FBI and the Department of Justice for investigation and potential prosecution," the letter said.
In addition to the multiple divisions of Planned Parenthood, also listed were StemExpress, Advanced Bioscience Resources and Novogenix Laboratories.
"In addition … it appears that the Planned Parenthood Federation of America learned that its affiliates engaging in paid fetal tissue programs were not following the policies and procedures it had put in place to ensure compliance … However, instead of exercising its oversight procedures to bring them into compliance, it contacted the affiliates involved and then altered those oversight procedures in a manner that allowed the affiliates' conduct to continue," Grassley's letter said.
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"While the committee does not have all the details of what transpired between the Planned Parenthood Federal of American and these affiliates, the facts uncovered raise a reasonable suspicion that these organizations, and/or individuals employed by them, may have engaged in a conspiracy to violate the fetal tissue law."
While the letter was sent to the Obama administration, which has been ardently pro-abortion, taking the reins on Jan. 20 will be administrators appointed by President-elect Donald Trump, who has expressed harsh criticism of abortion.
"Although the Obama administration is unlikely to follow through on the recommendation, the referral will provide the Trump administration with a foundation to levy criminal charges against Planned Parenthood," explained the Washington Times.
"I don't take lightly make a criminal referral," Grassley said. "But, the seeming disregard for the law by these entities has been fueled by decades of utter failure by the Justice Department to enforce it. And, unless there is a renewed commitment by everyone involved against criminalizing the trade in aborted fetal body parts for profit, then the outcome is likely to continue."
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The report explains the videos, released by the Center for Medical Progress, were the impetus for the committee's work, but its results do not rely on the videos.
"Rather, this report is based on documents and information the committee independently obtained in the source of its investigation directly from the relevant organizations involved in fetal tissue transfers, from the relevant government agencies, and from an examination of legislative history."
So, it said, any "criticism" of the videos themselves "are generally irrelevant to this report."
Operation Rescue's president, Troy Newman, is a founding CMP board member, and he and lead investigator David Daleiden continue to fight a federal lawsuit from Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation, who are trying to prevent the release of additional information.
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"These criminal referrals of Planned Parenthood and their partners in the organ procurement business are the result of independent investigations that corroborate the information gathered by the CMP investigators. With a new administration about to take office in Washington, D.C., my hope for successful prosecutions of these crimes are higher than ever," he said.
He notes the half-a-billion dollars Planned Parenthood takes from U.S. taxpayers each year.
When the House panel voted on a contempt citation for StemExpress, Democrats on the committee walked out.
"Let me have the record reflect the Democrats are refusing to participate in this illegitimate and unsanctioned effort to seek criminal contempt (charges)," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill.
"We refuse to sanction or endorse this exercise by continuing to participate," she said then.
The stunt, however, had no impact on the outcome, and the committee, after Chairwoman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said, "The lady's actions are noted," continued with its vote, approving a report recommending StemExpress, an organ procurement company, and CEO Cate Dyer, be held in contempt of Congress.
They have failed to comply with "lawfully issued subpoenas," the committee determined.
See Schakowsky's statement:
StemExpress, Planned Parenthood and the others came under investigation in Congress after the videos caught executives discussing the baby body parts trade.
Liberty Counsel, which is working with one of the undercover investigators, noted evidence released in the investigation by the Center for Medical Progress last year "indicated that Planned Parenthood illegally profited financially from the sale of aborted baby remains to StemExpress and other organ procurement organizations."
The House Resolution Report, Liberty Counsel said, details a pattern of deception and stonewalling employed by StemExpress that was used to stall an investigation by the House Panel."
Planned Parenthood and StemExpress "profit from aborted babies," said Mat Staver, chairman of Liberty Counsel.
"It is human genocide. Period. This barbaric practice must be exposed. Planned Parenthood and StemExpress want to keep the public in the dark. They want to conceal their barbaric practices. They need to be held accountable," Staver said.
Among the fallout of the videos have been multiple decisions by states to defund Planned Parenthood. Major donors also are backing out, with Macy's ending it support for the abortionists.
WND reported a popular radio talk-show host skewered Planned Parenthood for the talking points it gave to supporters so they could promote the abortion industry giant to their family at Thanksgiving.
"I get how carving a turkey would remind you of babies because of those videos, but that isn't how most of us think," wrote Dana Loesch.
I get how carving a turkey would remind you of babies because of those videos, but that isn’t how most of us think. https://t.co/qGq1AlMzTy
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) November 23, 2016
Loesch hosts her award-winning, nationally syndicated daily radio show, "The Dana Show: The Conservative Alternative" from Dallas, Texas, where she also hosts "Dana" on The Blaze television network.
She appears regularly on Fox News, ABC, CNN and others.
The exchange had started with Planned Parenthood's tweet about "How to talk to your family about Planned Parenthood This #Thanksgiving."
It included a link to a list of talking points promoting the abortion behemoth.
The guide instructed, "You know one of the most important questions people will ask – besides 'Where's the wine?' and 'Are two dozen pies really enough?' – is: 'What will happen to Planned Parenthood?"
That assumption by writer Kaili Gray was followed by the assurance that Planned Parenthood has been around for 100 years. "It's not going anywhere. … Planned Parenthood's doors stay open, no matter what."
She claimed "the majority of Americans support Planned Parenthood and don't want to see it defunded."
What supporters should do, she said, was "donate … donate … volunteer … volunteer" and "join."
Twitchy reported Loesch was far from the only one outraged by Planned Parenthood's plan to try to garner support for its abortion industry – despite "those videos" that came out last year revealing its baby body parts trade – while the mashed potatoes are being passed.
Added Vern Demerest, "Because nothing says 'Thanksgiving' like the thought of killing babies & selling off the parts for big $$!!."
"Those videos" have been reported on multiple times.
They were released during 2015 by the Center for Medical Progress, which sent undercover video investigators to Planned Parenthood and other locations, capturing the abortionists there boasting of their abortion technique – how they could adjust procedures to salvage baby body parts that researchers wanted to purchase.
They were also caught arguing for higher compensation.
But federal law prohibits both changing abortion procedures to obtain body parts to sell, as well as profiting from those transactions.
One of the videos showed one official admitting Planned Parenthood sells fully intact aborted babies.
Crushing babies
In the first undercover video released by CMP, Deborah Nucatola of Planned Parenthood commented on crushing babies.
"We've been very good at getting heart, lung, liver, because we know that, so I'm not gonna crush that part, I'm gonna basically crush below, I'm gonna crush above, and I'm gonna see if I can get it all intact," she said.
See the first video:
In the second video, Planned Parenthood's Mary Gatter discussed how her compensation for organs could rise when she said, "I want a Lamborghini."
See her comments:
The fifth video released shows Melissa Farrell of Planned Parenthood's Houston clinic discussing "intact fetal cadavers":
The seventh video has the testimony of a Planned Parenthood worker who tapped an aborted infant's heart and saw it start beating.
