Harris grand jury indicts pair behind Planned Parenthood videos

[flowers]

http://m.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Harris-grand-jury-indicts-pair-behind-Planned-6782865.php

A Harris County grand jury probe into Planned Parenthood of the Gulf Coast ended Monday with the indictments of two anti-abortion activists.

David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt were both indicted for tampering with a governmental record. An additional indictment for prohibition of the purchase and sale of human organs was issued for Daleiden, according to a release from the Harris County District Attorneys Office.

"We were called upon to investigate allegations of criminal conduct by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast," said Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson. "As I stated at the outset of this investigation, we must go where the evidence leads us. All the evidence uncovered in the course of this investigation was presented to the grand jury. I respect their decision on this difficult case."

Daleiden and Merritt were involved in undercover videos that surfaced last year appearing to show a Planned Parenthood official discussing reimbursement fees associated with fetal tissue procurement and donation.

The videos prompted Gov. Greg Abbott to call for an investigation into the organization.

Planned Parenthood, in a letter to Congress said Daleiden was involved in secretly recording Planned Parenthood staff and patients at least 65 times over the last eight years.

[mountaineer]

tampering with a governmental record

PP is a branch of government now, woo hoo!

[jmyrlefuller]

David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt were both indicted for tampering with a governmental record. An additional indictment for prohibition of the purchase and sale of human organs was issued for Daleiden, according to a release from the Harris County District Attorneys Office.

So let me get this straight: someone tries to expose a human organ trafficking operation, and the person getting exposed gets charged.

Welcome to America, where people don't say what they really say.

[flowers]

So let me get this straight: someone tries to expose a human organ trafficking operation, and the person getting exposed gets charged.

Welcome to America, where people don't say what they really say.

Yes....at this rate they will be locking many up for telling the truth.

[mystery-ak]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/01/25/grand-jury-indicts-leader-behind-planned-parenthood-videos.html


Published January 25, 2016 FoxNews.com

A grand jury in Houston investigating undercover footage of Planned Parenthood allegations of misconduct instead indicted two anti-abortion activists on Monday who made videos of the organization.

Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson said in a statement that the founder of the Center for Medical Progress, David Daleiden, was indicted on a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record and a misdemeanor count related to purchasing human organs.

Another center employee, Sandra Merritt, was also indicted on a charge of tampering with a governmental record.

Anderson said in the statement grand jurors cleared Planned Parenthood of any wrongdoing, but didn't specify what record or records were allegedly tampered with in a statement announcing the indictment.

"We were called upon to investigate allegations of criminal conduct by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast," Anderson said. "As I stated at the outset of this investigation, we must go where the evidence leads us. All the evidence uncovered in the course of this investigation was presented to the grand jury. I respect their decision on this difficult case."

The Center for Medical Progress is the anti-abortion group that released covertly shot videos of Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of aborted fetuses for research.

Planned Parenthood officials swiftly hailed the indictment

"These anti-abortion extremists spent three years creating a fake company, creating fake identities, lying, and breaking the law. When they couldn't find any improper or illegal activity, they made it up," Eric Ferrero, Vice President of Communications for Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement.

“As the dust settles and the truth comes out, it's become totally clear that the only people who engaged in wrongdoing are the criminals behind this fraud, and we're glad they're being held accountable,” Ferrero said.

The center has released several secretly recorded videos that have riled anti-abortion activists and has accused Planned Parenthood of selling fetal tissue for profit, which is illegal. Republicans in Congress last summer unsuccessfully called for cutting off funding for the organization.

Texas Governor Greg Abbot said in a statement that the indictment had no impact on the state’s ongoing investigation of Planned Parenthood.

“The State of Texas will continue to protect life, and I will continue to support legislation prohibiting the sale or transfer of fetal tissue,” Abbott said.

Planned Parenthood says it abides by a law that allows providers to be reimbursed for the costs of processing tissue donated by women who have had abortions

[ABX]

You can indict a ham sandwich in Texas and we have some pretty overt activist district attorneys. I've been on several Grand Juries and the DA pretty much tells you how to vote on everything. The fact that they indicted the filmmakers who were not even brought up on charges shows a serious leading by the DA.

[Wingnut]

Figures it was in Harris County , a cesspool full of liberal turds looking for the assholes that gave birth to them.

[mountaineer]

The Federalist
16 mins ·

Grand jury indicts an activist for filming what they say Planned Parenthood did not do.

[EC]

HOUSTON — A grand jury here that was investigating accusations of misconduct against Planned Parenthood has instead indicted two abortion opponents who made undercover videos of the organization.

Prosecutors in Harris County said one of the leaders of the Center for Medical Progress — an anti-abortion group that made secretly recorded videos purporting to show Planned Parenthood officials trying to illegally profit from the sale of fetal tissue — had been indicted on a charge of tampering with a governmental record, a felony, and on a misdemeanor charge related to purchasing human organs.

That leader, David R. Daleiden, 27, the director of the center, had posed as a biotechnology representative to infiltrate Planned Parenthood affiliates and surreptitiously record his efforts to procure tissue for research. Another center employee, Sandra S. Merritt, 62, was indicted on a felony charge of tampering with a governmental record.

The record-tampering charges accused Mr. Daleiden and Ms. Merritt of making and presenting fake California driver’s licenses, with the intent to defraud, for their April meeting at Planned Parenthood in Houston.

Abortion opponents claimed that the videos, which were released starting in July, revealed that Planned Parenthood was engaged in the illegal sale of body parts — a charge that the organization has denied and that has not been supported in numerous congressional and state investigations triggered by the release of the videos.

On Monday, the Harris County district attorney, Devon Anderson, said in a statement that grand jurors had cleared Planned Parenthood of any wrongdoing.

She declined to provide details about the case against Mr. Daleiden and Ms. Merritt, including any documents or evidence presented to the grand jury, citing state law on the secrecy of grand jury proceedings.

“As I stated at the outset of this investigation, we must go where the evidence leads us,” Ms. Anderson said. “All the evidence uncovered in the course of this investigation was presented to the grand jury. I respect their decision on this difficult case.”

In a statement on Monday night, Mr. Daleiden said: “The Center for Medical Progress uses the same undercover techniques that investigative journalists have used for decades in exercising our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and of the press, and follows all applicable laws. We respect the processes of the Harris County district attorney, and note that buying fetal tissue requires a seller as well. Planned Parenthood still cannot deny the admissions from their leadership about fetal organ sales captured on video for all the world to see.”

The release of the videos last summer created a furor and gave new strength to the conservative drive to defund Planned Parenthood. The organization was forced to apologize for the casual tone that one of its officials had used to discuss a possible transfer of fetal tissue to what she believed was a legitimate medical company. But Planned Parenthood said the fees being discussed were to cover costs and were legal.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/26/us/2-abortion-foes-behind-planned-parenthood-videos-are-indicted.html

[Fishrrman]

There was a wicked messenger
From Eli he did come
With a mind that multiplied the smallest matter
When questioned who had sent for him
He answered with his thumb
For his tongue it could not speak, but only flatter

He stayed behind the assembly hall
It was there he made his bed
Oftentimes he could be seen returning
Until one day he just appeared
With a note in his hand which read
“The soles of my feet, I swear they’re burning”

Oh, the leaves began to fallin’
And the seas began to part
And the people that confronted him were many
And he was told but these few words
Which opened up his heart
“If ye cannot bring good news, then don’t bring any”

- Bob Dylan, The Wicked Messenger