The California Department of Justice on Tuesday searched the home of David Daleiden, the founder of the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), an antiabortion-rights group that over the summer released a series of misleading videos targeting Planned Parenthood, the AP/Sacramento Bee reports (Thompson, AP/Sacramento Bee, 4/5).
Background
CMP secretly filmed the videos by meeting with Planned Parenthood staff while posing as buyers of fetal tissue. A report submitted to Congress by forensic experts last year found the videos were manipulated, making them unreliable for official inquiries into the organization. In addition, several state and federal investigations into Planned Parenthood have found no evidence of wrongdoing by the organization. One of the state investigations, in Texas, not only cleared the organization of wrongdoing, but resulted in indictments for Daleiden and CMP employee Sandra Merritt (Women's Health Policy Report, 4/1).
Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation have filed separate lawsuits against Daleiden, stating that he used false identification, filmed material without obtaining consent and violated confidentiality agreements (Haberkorn, Politico, 4/5).
Investigation details
California Attorney General Kamala Harris (D) last summer said her office would review whether CMP had violated state laws when its members covertly filmed closed conferences and private meetings (St. John, Los Angeles Times, 4/5). Specifically, according to Harris, the investigation would examine whether CMP violated rules on state charity reporting or registration, including by posing as representatives of a false biomedical organization or filming footage without consent from Planned Parenthood (AP/Sacramento Bee, 4/5).
On Tuesday, California DOJ investigators seized Daleiden's laptop and multiple hard drives from his home, according to a source close to Daleiden, Politico reports. Daleiden said investigators took all of his video footage (Politico, 4/5).
Rachele Huennekens, a spokesperson for Harris, said the attorney general's office could not comment on an ongoing investigation (AP/Sacramento Bee, 4/5).
Abortion-rights groups react
Erica Sackin, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood, said, "David Daleiden engaged in an elaborate criminal conspiracy to deceive the public and ban abortion in this country, and now he's paying the price." She added, "The only people who engaged in wrongdoing are the extremists who broke multiple laws to spread lies about Planned Parenthood -- and it looks like they're finally being held accountable" (Politico, 4/5).
Separately, NAF President and CEO Vicki Saporta said, "[Daleiden's] actions are not without consequences." She noted, "The only one that engaged in criminal activity in this scheme was Daleiden" (Los Angeles Times, 4/5).
