On Tuesday, Texas Judge Brock Thomas dismissed all remaining charges against the undercover journalists who allegedly exposed Planned Parenthood’s participation in the selling of aborted babies’ body parts. The judge dismissed the charge of tampering with governmental records levied against Center for Medical Progress founder David Daleiden and his partner Stephanie Merritt, reports The Washington Free Beacon.
Over the summer, Daleiden, 27, and Merritt, 63, posed as buyers of organs from a research center in order to uncover the disturbing practices from Planned Parenthood. Their undercover videos, released in a series over the summer, showed the abortion mill’s higher-ups callously haggling over organs’ prices, shaking even those who are pro-choice to their core.
But, stunningly, the hard-hitting journalism from Daleiden and Merritt was swept under the carpet from abortion-insiders within the legal system with reported ties to Planned Parenthood. Worse even, in January, the investigative journalists were charged for “attempting to purchase baby organs” and tampering with governmental records through the use of falsified identification (needed to carry our the “undercover” aspect of the undercover investigation).
In June, the former of the two charges was thrown out, the latter, as aforementioned, was dismissed on Tuesday.
Daleiden called the ruling “a resounding vindication” of his center’s journalistic work.
“The dismissal of the bogus, politically motivated charges against [Center for Medical Progress] project lead David Daleiden and investigator Sandra Merritt is a resounding vindication of the First Amendment rights of all citizen journalists, and also a clear warning to any of Planned Parenthood’s political cronies who would attack whistleblowers to protect Planned Parenthood from scrutiny,” reads a statement released by Daleiden. “Planned Parenthood tried to collude with public officials to manipulate the legal process to their own benefit, and they failed.”
Daleiden’s attorney, Peter Breen, echoed a similar sentiment, calling the ruling by Judge Thomas a “huge win for the First Amendment,” adding that his client was acting as any reasonable investigative journalist would, well within the protection of the First Amendment.
“Today’s dismissal in Houston is a huge win for the First Amendment rights of undercover journalists,” Breen said. “This meritless and retaliatory prosecution should never have been brought. Planned Parenthood did wrong here, not David Daleiden.”
If Daleiden or Merritt “had been convicted of the felony charge, each could have been sentenced to up to 20 years in prison,” notes Fox News.
The brave journalist with a target clearly painted on his back by Planned Parenthood remains adamant about exposing the corrupt, federally-funded abortion giant.
“A year after the release of the undercover videos, the ongoing nationwide investigation of Planned Parenthood by the House Select Investigative Panel makes clear that Planned Parenthood is the guilty party in the harvesting and trafficking of baby body parts for profit,” he stated.
