Washington, DC -Today, Democratic Members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sent a letter to Chairman Jason Chaffetz insisting that he compel David Daleiden, whose organization unsuccessfully tried to entrap Planned Parenthood, to begin producing documents to the Committee, including those subpoenaed on Sept. 15, 2015. To date, Daleiden has not produced a single page, while Planned Parenthood has produced more than 20,000 pages.
In addition, since Chaffetz has refused to allow Committee Members to question Daleiden at a public hearing, the Democrats also asked him to obtain written answers from Daleiden to a list of 21 detailed interrogatories regarding multiple allegations that Daleiden and his group engaged in a series of illegal acts during their covert three-year campaign against Planned Parenthood.
The Democrats’ requests come on the heels of last week’s hearing with Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, after which Chaffetz admitted on national television that the Committee has no evidence that Planned Parenthood violated any laws.
“We believe it is inappropriate for the Committee to continue harassing Planned Parenthood for political reasons-with no evidence of any wrongdoing-simply to force the group to squander millions of dollars in legal fees that could be going to support breast exams, cancer screenings, and other critical women’s healthcare services," the Democrats wrote.
“Unlike Planned Parenthood, Mr. Daleiden and his group engaged in a host of potentially illegal activities, including filing false documents with government agencies, falsely impersonating a legitimate business concern, soliciting charitable contributions under false pretenses, and secretly recording Planned Parenthood officials without their consent," the Democrats wrote. “Continuing to shield Mr. Daleiden and his organization from accountability creates the unfortunate impression that the Committee is more interested in attacking Planned Parenthood than in an even-handed investigation of potential violations of law."
