Schakowsky Statement on the Indictment of David Daleiden

Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky released the following statement in response to the indictmentof David Daleiden and one of his associates on 15 criminal charges. Those charges, brought forth by Attorney General Xavier Becerra, relate to their creation of fake and heavily doctored videos that sought to slander and defame Planned Parenthood.

In response to the widely debunked claims made in the videos, Congressional Republicans created a select investigative panel, which Democrats termed the “Select Panel to Attack Women’s Health”. This panel spent $1.6 million taxpayer dollars and could not find any evidence of wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood or other women’s health providers after a year of Republican probes. Rep. Schakowsky served as the Democratic Ranking Member on the panel.

“This indictment confirms what we’ve known for some time – that David Daleiden and his associates broke the law in order to make fraudulent, highly-edited video tapes to attack Planned Parenthood and women’s health. Meanwhile, not a shred of evidence of wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood has been found, despite investigations by four Congressional committees, thirteen states, and a Texas grand jury.

“I am very pleased that the state of California pursued this case. In the summer of 2015, after the fraudulent videotapes were released, I sent a letter to then-Attorney General Kamala Harris asking her to initiate an investigation into David Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress. Then, as the Ranking Member of what I call the “Select Panel to Attack Women’s Health”, I repeatedly asked Chairman Blackburn to bring David Daleiden in to testify. She, of course, refused.

“Attacks on women and their health care providers need to end. Planned Parenthood is a trusted provider of health care to more than 2.5 million patients every year. I hope this indictment sends a clear message to President Trump, Speaker Paul Ryan, and Majority Leader McConnell: they must end their quest to defund Planned Parenthood and stop their attack women’s health and once and for all.”