I’d forgotten this one. House Republicans have such a long and sordid history in their investigations.
The Daily Kos article Republicans rushed to form a select committee to investigate Planned Parenthood. Russia? compares the Republican responses to questions about Planned Parenthood with questions about helping Russia subvert America’s 2016 election.
Remember that one? The Center for Medical Progress (CMP), a right-wing anti-abortion group, published a video that purported to show that Planned Parenthood, which gives fetal tissue to research groups (uncomfortable, but open and perfectly legal), was actually selling that tissue (which would be kinda illegal).
The video was clearly edited to within an inch of its life and an obvious scam. The CMP had done this before, so it wasn’t a surprise.
Didn’t matter. Within 24 hours, House Republicans announced investigations. After three months of investigation that only showed it was faked.
There was only one answer: House Republicans formed a (highly partisan) special committee to continue the investigation, the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce Select Investigative Panel on Planned Parenthood. After more than a year, that special committee still found no wrongdoing, but recommended (after another party-line vote) that Planned Parenthood should be defunded anyway. Just… because.
Once the public got a copy of the unedited video, the dishonesty and alterations were obvious. Again, didn’t matter. The Kos article includes this quote from the time:
Even if Planned Parenthood complied with the law, it’s clear we need to learn more about their barbaric tactics,” said the ever-insightful GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina.
Paul Ryan, that sham Serious Man, was still touting the known-false video:
It’s been one year since the nation was shocked by the disturbing videos which showed senior-level Planned Parenthood employees bartering over the body parts of aborted babies. It was grisly. It was something out of a horror movie. And we were outraged.
So we took action. We launched investigations and hearings to figure out what happened. We formed the Select Panel on Infant Lives to investigate Planned Parenthood. The panel found these weren’t isolated incidents—there’s an entire black market in aborted baby parts. And some of it is receiving taxpayer funding.
(None of which is true, of course)
Wikipedia reports that officials in 12 states initiated investigations into the claims. None found Planned Parenthood clinics to have sold tissue for profit. I remember that one investigation (in Texas, of all places!) recommended that the CMP itself — the video authors — be charged for false statements under oath. The Texas Republican party was aghast.
So now we have possible coordination, where the Trump campaign helps Russian forces trying to damage American elections?
No need. Not a big problem. We’re good here. Really. Go away.
