Pro-life activist says California has ended ‘weaponized political prosecution’ begun by Kamala Harris on undercover videos
David Daleiden celebrated the end of the "weaponized political prosecution" begun by former Vice President Kamala Harris over his efforts to obtain and release undercover videos about Planned Parenthood. Daleiden and his collaborator posed as a biomedical research company in order to secretly videotape Planned Parenthood executives talking about the sale of body parts from abortion procedures. The videos were released in 2015 and made national headlines but began a legal struggle over the First Amendment free speech rights of undercover investigators. 'Now we all must get to work to protect families and infants from the criminal abortion-industrial complex.' Harris, who was the attorney general of California at the time, led the legal effort to prosecute Daleiden in order to punish his pro-life advocacy, according to many critics. Several animal rights and free speech groups backed Daleiden's defense on the basis that it would encroach on the free speech rights of all activist groups. Daleiden celebrated in a statement on social media on Monday. "After enduring 9 years of weaponized political prosecution, putting an end to the lawfare launched by Kamala Harris is a huge victory for my investigative reporting and for the public's right to know the truth about Planned Parenthood's sale of aborted baby body parts," wrote Daleiden. He went on to say that he agreed to enter a new plea of "no contest" on one charge in exchange for the State of California dismissing the rest of the active charges against him. The plea is not an admission of wrongdoing and excludes any fines or probation. Additionally, the plea will be entered into judgment as a misdemeanor and later converted to a "not guilty" plea before being dismissed. The State of California had charged Daleiden with 15 felonies related to the videos in 2017, and in 2019 Daleiden was ordered to pay Planned Parenthood millions in damages, although the organization had sought far more. "Now we all must get to work to protect families and infants from the criminal abortion-industrial complex," Daleiden concluded. "Taking the San Francisco case off the board allows me to focus fully on CMP's mission to report on the injustices of taxpayer-funded experiments on aborted babies and continue to expand our groundbreaking investigative reporting." Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
David Daleiden celebrated the end of the "weaponized political prosecution" begun by former Vice President Kamala Harris over his efforts to obtain and release undercover videos about Planned Parenthood.
Daleiden and his collaborator posed as a biomedical research company in order to secretly videotape Planned Parenthood executives talking about the sale of body parts from abortion procedures. The videos were released in 2015 and made national headlines but began a legal struggle over the First Amendment free speech rights of undercover investigators.
'Now we all must get to work to protect families and infants from the criminal abortion-industrial complex.'
Harris, who was the attorney general of California at the time, led the legal effort to prosecute Daleiden in order to punish his pro-life advocacy, according to many critics. Several animal rights and free speech groups backed Daleiden's defense on the basis that it would encroach on the free speech rights of all activist groups.
Daleiden celebrated in a statement on social media on Monday.
"After enduring 9 years of weaponized political prosecution, putting an end to the lawfare launched by Kamala Harris is a huge victory for my investigative reporting and for the public's right to know the truth about Planned Parenthood's sale of aborted baby body parts," wrote Daleiden.
He went on to say that he agreed to enter a new plea of "no contest" on one charge in exchange for the State of California dismissing the rest of the active charges against him. The plea is not an admission of wrongdoing and excludes any fines or probation. Additionally, the plea will be entered into judgment as a misdemeanor and later converted to a "not guilty" plea before being dismissed.
The State of California had charged Daleiden with 15 felonies related to the videos in 2017, and in 2019 Daleiden was ordered to pay Planned Parenthood millions in damages, although the organization had sought far more.
"Now we all must get to work to protect families and infants from the criminal abortion-industrial complex," Daleiden concluded. "Taking the San Francisco case off the board allows me to focus fully on CMP's mission to report on the injustices of taxpayer-funded experiments on aborted babies and continue to expand our groundbreaking investigative reporting."
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Originally Published at Daily Wire, World Net Daily, or The Blaze
What's Your Reaction?
