TX Grand Jury Indicts David Daleiden, Clears Planned Parenthood

[GMDino]

This happened in Texas.....TEXAS.

http://crooksandliars.com/2016/01/report-tx-grand-jury-indicts-center

Quote:A Houston Grand Jury investigating the bogus Planned Parenthood videos has returned a surprising and gratifying result.

According to Houston Public Media, the grand jury declined to indict Planned Parenthood after concluding a two-month investigation into their conduct.

Instead, they indicted David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, the videographers who infiltrated Planned Parenthood with the intent to smear them.

Daleiden and Merritt have both been indicted by the grand jury for Tampering with a Governmental Record, a 2nd degree felony. Daleiden was also indicted for Prohibition of the Purchase and Sale of Human Organs, a misdemeanor.

If convicted on the felony charge, Daleiden and Merritt could face anywhere from 2 to 20 years in prison, as well as financial penalties.

It seems Texas doesn't take kindly to anyone falsifying identifications in order to pretend they are "investigative reporters."

[Vas Deferens]

Good news.

This will be conveniently ignored by certain overly-active, blanket one-sentence statement posters here. "Doesn't interest them"

[BmorePat87]

Too little too late. They convinced enough people to believe that something illegal was happening. It does seem like much of the commotion regarding Planned Parenthood has died down, but I don't know what's going on at the state/local level across this country and how it will impact the Congressional elections.

Also, can we agree to ignore anyone who tries to mention eugenics?

[Vas Deferens]

(01-26-2016, 10:38 AM)BmorePat87 Wrote: Also, can we agree to ignore anyone who tries to mention eugenics?

It's the only way to advance this conversation.  Yes. 

[GMDino]

How The Nationwide Crusade Against Planned Parenthood Is Failing, In One Map

Quote:After a months-long investigation, a Texas grand jury decided not to indict Planned Parenthood on Monday — providing more confirmation that there’s no solid evidence to support the accusations against the national women’s health organization.

This trend goes far beyond Texas. Across the country, GOP-led investigations into Planned Parenthood’s activities haven’t turned up any proof that the organization is breaking the law.

Planned Parenthood has been under fire thanks to a series of undercover videos secretly filmed by anti-abortion activists affiliated with a sting group called the Center for Medical Progress. After those videos were released, right-wing lawmakers rushed to accuse Planned Parenthood of illegally trafficking in aborted baby parts, and GOP officials launched investigations into the group at both the state and federal levels. This fall, Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards was required to testify before Congress to defend her organization’s activities.

Despite the increased scrutiny on Planned Parenthood’s fetal tissue donation program, however, Republican officials are coming up empty.


plannedparenthoodmapCREDIT: THINKPROGRESS/DYLAN PETROHILOS

In addition to the grand jury in Texas, officials in 11 other states — Kansas, Florida, Ohio, Washington, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, and South Dakota — have also concluded their investigations into Planned Parenthood by clearing the organization of any wrongdoing. Many of these investigations have been quite extensive and time consuming. In Missouri, for example, the state attorney general confirmed there’s no evidence of misconduct at the state’s only Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis after reviewing more than 3,500 pages of documents and conducting multiple interviews with the clinic’s employees.

Eight additional states, meanwhile, have determined they don’t have enough evidence against Planned Parenthood to justify conducting an investigation in the first place. Although politicians there pushed for a probe, officials ultimately concluded that it would be a waste of time.
Fetal tissue donation, which helps scientists develop treatments for degenerative diseases, has been legal for decades, and Planned Parenthood has long maintained that its employees have done nothing wrong. The group says the anti-abortion activists behind the video campaign — who allegedly used fake government IDs to pose as employees at a fake company — are the ones who may have actually broken the law. The grand jury in Texas agreed, opting to indict two Center for Medical Progress employees rather than Planned Parenthood itself.

“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,” Eric Ferrero, the vice president of communications for Planned Parenthood, said in a statement this week.

The mounting evidence hasn’t been persuasive to leading Republicans. GOP presidential candidates have brushed aside the recent grand jury decision and doubled down against Planned Parenthood. Meanwhile, Congress still has five separate committees dedicated to investigating Planned Parenthood — including a special panel that has drawn direct comparisons to the panel that spent millions of taxpayer dollars investigating Benghazi — despite repeated protestations from Democrats who say national lawmakers should focus their attention elsewhere.

“The House of Representatives continues to waste taxpayer dollars on a special committee to investigation Planned Parenthood, despite the fact that state after state has found no wrongdoing, and that a grand jury has indicted not Planned Parenthood, but employees of the Center for Medical Progress,” Rep. Carolyn Mahoney (D-NY) said in a statement released on Monday. “It is time to end this witch hunt.”

[SteelCitySouth]

much like the anti-vaxer nuts....this won't make any difference.

[CKwi88]

(01-26-2016, 08:50 PM)SteelCitySouth Wrote: much like the anti-vaxer nuts....this won't make any difference.

This is so true, and so sad.


Some people just fall hook, line, and sinker for the propaganda and fear tactics. 

[mallorian69]

Not sure why anyone is surprised even if it happened in Texas. Houston, like most large cities (even the ones in Texas) are controlled predominantly by Democrats.

Now I'm only guessing but I'd say it's a safe bet that the prosecutor in this case is a liberal. We all know that you can get an indictment simply by controlling what the grand jury hears as the defense is generally not invited to the party. What I'm actually shocked by is it took someone this long.

[GMDino]

(01-27-2016, 12:36 AM)mallorian69 Wrote: Not sure why anyone is surprised even if it happened in Texas. Houston, like most large cities (even the ones in Texas) are controlled predominantly by Democrats.

Now I'm only guessing but I'd say it's a safe bet that the prosecutor in this case is a liberal. We all know that you can get an indictment simply by controlling what the grand jury hears as the defense is generally not invited to the party. What I'm actually shocked by is it took someone this long.

http://app.dao.hctx.net/OurOffice/DevonAndersonBio.aspx

Quote:Governor Rick Perry appointed Devon Anderson Harris County District Attorney on September 26, 2013. She succeeds her late husband, Mike Anderson. On November 4, 2014, Anderson was reelected to her first term which officially began in January 2015. 



Anderson has a long history of fighting for justice. She was a prosecutor for 12 years at the Harris County District Attorney’s office trying some of the worst criminals including, the “Railroad Killer,” Angel Maturino Resendiz. Anderson rose through the ranks of the office prosecuting offenses at every level. She was a Chief Felony prosecutor for 5 years and tried over 100 felony jury trials including 7 capital murders. 


...


Anderson has been the recipient of several prestigious awards for her work in 2014 including:

• 2014 Premier Women in Law, Association of Women Attorneys
• 2014 Policy Setter Award, MADD
• 2014 Early Leader Award, Waco ISD Advanced Academic Services
• 2014 Houston’s 50 Most Influential Women
  

During her tenure as District Attorney, Anderson has added more prosecutors to the Human Trafficking Section, Animal Cruelty Section, Organized Crime Section, and Mental Health Division. She helped create a new misdemeanor prostitution court and misdemeanor Veterans court. In cooperation with the Criminal District Court judges, Anderson also helped implement a Court to focus on felony backlog cases starting with Capital Murders. In its first year, the program reduced the average pending age of Capital Murder cases from 3.5 years to 1.5 years. 



...

http://www.andersonda.com/



[/url]

Quote:Devon Anderson files for Reelection


[url=http://www.andersonda.com/2015/11/17/devon-anderson-files-for-reelection/]November 17, 2015



Devon Anderson, Harris County District Attorney, filed paperwork yesterday for her place on the March Republican Primary ballot. Anderson was first appointed to the office in 2013 and was elected to fill the unexpired term in November 2014. “Serving as District Attorney in the third largest jurisdiction in America is a tremendous honor,” Anderson said. 

[mallorian69]

(01-27-2016, 01:02 AM)GMDino Wrote: http://app.dao.hctx.net/OurOffice/DevonAndersonBio.aspx



http://www.andersonda.com/



[url=http://www.andersonda.com/2015/11/17/devon-anderson-files-for-reelection/][/url]

Kids let this be a lesson, gambling doesn't pay.

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(01-24-2016, 08:08 PM)StLucieBengal Wrote:  When proven wrong I will usually stop discussing. 

The silence is deafening.

[StLucieBengal]

oncemoreuntothejimbree Wrote:The silence is deafening.

What was I wrong about?

I will just wait until more come out on this matter. If PP was fully cleared the. The state of Texas wouldn't still have an ongoing investigation. This sounds sketchy

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(01-27-2016, 11:42 AM)StLucieBengal Wrote: What was I wrong about?  

I will just wait until more come out on this matter.    If PP was fully cleared the. The state of Texas wouldn't still have an ongoing investigation.    This sounds sketchy

What were you right about?

[fredtoast]

(01-27-2016, 11:16 AM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: The silence is deafening.

"Benghazi!   Americans died!!!"

[GMDino]

(01-24-2016, 08:08 PM)StLucieBengal Wrote: When proven wrong I will usually stop discussing.    

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/planned-parenthood-indictments-republican-investigation_us_56a8e604e4b0f71799288be7?section=politics

GOP Still Investigating Planned Parenthood, Even After Sting Videos Backfire

Quote:The anti-abortion activists behind the videos were indicted Monday.

Republicans are determined to push on with their investigation of Planned Parenthood, even after a Texas grand jury cleared the organization of wrongdoing on Monday and instead indicted two anti-abortion activists who targeted the family planning provider in a series of undercover videos.

One of the videos, taped at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Houston and purporting to show Planned Parenthood staff members discussing the sale of fetal tissue for medical research, inspired Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican, to ask Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson to initiate a criminal investigation of the organization in August.

Planned Parenthood has maintained that it was not selling fetal tissue, which would have been illegal, and commissioned a study that demonstrated the videos were manipulated. The organization sued the Center for Medical Progress, the anti-abortion group behind the videos, earlier this month.

The grand jury’s decision hasn’t affected Republicans' plans to continue investigating Planned Parenthood, however. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who is chairing a select investigative committee that purports to be investigating “big abortion providers" -- but for all intents and purposes is only scrutinizing Planned Parenthood -- said in a statement Tuesday that “the mission of our investigation has not changed.”

“We will continue to gather information and get the facts about medical practices of abortion service providers and the business practices of the procurement organizations who sell baby body parts,” Blackburn said. “These are issues of importance to the American people. We will study the laws on the books and follow the facts to defend life."

Blackburn's committee was created even as other Republicans, like Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), said they didn’t find any evidence of wrongdoing on the provider’s part. Multiple state investigations have come to similar conclusions.

Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson announced on Jan. 25, 2016 that a grand jury has indicted two anti-abortion activists who made undercover videos attacking Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood says that its Texas health centers do not donate tissue for medical research, and haven’t done so since they partnered with the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston in 2010 to study the causes of miscarriages.

Dawn Laguens, Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s executive vice president, suggested on a call with reporters Tuesday that the videos “served as a cover” for anti-abortion politicians to push their ideological position forward.

“It’s become totally clear that the only people who engaged in wrongdoing are the criminals behind this fraud,” she said. “You would hope that other people who now have very clear evidence in this impartial and thorough grand jury proceeding would reconsider some of these attacks.”

Many abortion opponents in Congress cited the Center for Medical Progress' undercover footage to justify their votes to cut off Planned Parenthood’s federal funds for Medicaid and Title X services for low-income patients and to pass new abortion bans. They were largely silent after Monday's grand jury decision, and did not respond to The Huffington Post’s requests for comment.

But the lawmakers who did respond echoed indicted Center for Medical Progress founder David Daleiden’s argument that the the tactics he used to tape the videos -- like assuming fake identities and creating a fake tissue procurement company -- are "the same undercover techniques that investigative journalists have used for decades.”

Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas), for instance, said he was “disappointed and shocked” by the grand jury’s decision, and added that Daleiden employed “a common tactic used to uncover criminal activity.”

“It’s deeply offensive and ridiculous that those who illegally sell aborted human body parts get a pass -- while these two pro-life defenders are indicted for using aliases to expose Planned Parenthood’s unlawful and disgusting practices of selling baby body parts,” Babin said in a statement.  “This decision begs the question: how else could they get the truth?”

Anti-abortion groups have now taken the stance that the criminal investigation -- which was initiated by a Republican lieutenant governor and led by an anti-abortion Republican district attorney -- was biased because a prosecutor in the district attorney’s office sits on the board of Planned Parenthood’s Texas affiliate.

“It is unacceptable that the office did not recuse itself to eliminate any and all questions of potential bias,” Lila Rose, the founder of anti-abortion group Live Action, said in a statement. “A special prosecutor should be appointed now to review this entire investigation."

But Josh Schaffer, an attorney for Planned Parenthood in Texas, said on the Tuesday press call that the district attorney’s office had “created a firewall” to make sure that the prosecutor affiliated with Planned Parenthood was in no way involved with the investigation.

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(01-27-2016, 12:53 PM)fredtoast Wrote: "Benghazi!   Americans died!!!"

What irritates me about the public's reaction to the Benghazi attacks is the disproportionate outrage over four American deaths because Hillary Clinton lied (about what was most likely a CIA operation), but the same outraged people say nary a peep about the 4800+ Americans who died in Iraq because other politicians lied.

[Vas Deferens]

(01-27-2016, 04:38 PM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: What irritates me about the public's reaction to the Benghazi attacks is the disproportionate outrage over four American deaths because Hillary Clinton lied (about what was most likely a CIA operation), but the same outraged people say nary a peep about the 4800+ Americans who died in Iraq because other politicians lied.

...and lied to advance a military industrial complex agenda.  And profited from said lies and subsequent deaths.  MADE ***** MONEY OFF THEIR LIES. 

[Vlad]

(01-27-2016, 11:16 AM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: The silence is deafening.

HAHA...it's killin you people isn't it?.. because it's that rare occasion that you may be right and you aint getting any atta boys. Awww.

That said, I'll give you credit and a cookie because it isn't over.

Although splicing and editing of the videos had occurred (such as falsely depicting a stillborn as an aborted fetus), the fact remains that every callous word spoken by PP personnel indifferent toward dismembering babies was unedited and the real deal.

Fusion GPS analysts reviewed all four of the “full footage” videos released by the Center for Medical Progress, totaling more than 12 hours of tape. This analysis did not reveal widespread evidence of substantive video manipulation, but we did identify cuts, skips, missing tape, and changes in camera angle. A forensic video expert, Grant Fredericks, reviewed segments of tape identified as suspicious during this preliminary review. This professional analysis revealed that the full footage videos contained numerous intentional post-production edits.

This Deliedan dude was indicted for Tampering with Government record, and the purchase of baby parts.
If he could be charged for the purchase, then why not the seller?


















.

[GMDino]

(01-27-2016, 09:23 PM)Vlad Wrote: HAHA...it's killin you people isn't it?.. because it's that rare occasion that you may be right and you aint getting any atta boys. Awww.

That said, I'll give you credit and a cookie because it isn't over.

Although splicing and editing of the videos had occurred (such as falsely depicting a stillborn as an aborted fetus), the fact remains that every callous word spoken by PP personnel indifferent toward dismembering babies was unedited and the real deal.

Fusion GPS analysts reviewed all four of the “full footage” videos released by the Center for Medical Progress, totaling more than 12 hours of tape. This analysis did not reveal widespread evidence of substantive video manipulation, but we did identify cuts, skips, missing tape, and changes in camera angle. A forensic video expert, Grant Fredericks, reviewed segments of tape identified as suspicious during this preliminary review. This professional analysis revealed that the full footage videos contained numerous intentional post-production edits.

This Deliedan dude was indicted for Tampering with Government record, and the purchase of baby parts.
If he could be charged for the purchase, then why not the seller?

He was charged with "offering to buy"....no actually buying.
Which is why no "seller" was charged as nothing was sold.

[oncemoreuntothejimbreech]

(01-27-2016, 09:23 PM)Vlad Wrote: HAHA...it's killin you people isn't it?

Who is "you people"?  Veterans?  Gun owners?  WASPs?  Suburbians?  People who grew up poor, white trash in Ohio?  People who live in the South?  College graduates?  Medical professionals? People who earn more than your household?  Fathers?  Husbands?