The following comes from an August 1 CalWatchdog article by James Poulos:

Undercover videos that sent Planned Parenthood into crisis mode have drawn the concern of California Attorney General Kamala Harris, whose interest in reviewing their legality helped put the Golden State at the center of a dramatic national controversy.

Harris, embarked on a campaign to replace outgoing Sen.ator Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., promised lawmakers to “carefully review” the organization behind the tapes for “any violations of California law,” according to the Sacramento Bee.

The lawmakers, four Congressional Democrats, had “asked Harris and U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to determine if officials from the Irvine-based Center for Medical Progress broke any laws when they posed as workers for a biotech company while recording Planned Parenthood physicians without their consent,” the Bee reported.

“Reps. Jan Schakowsky, Zoe Lofgren, Jerry Nadler and Yvette Clarke cited reports that founder David Daleiden filed paperwork to create a phony entity. They also asked the state’s top law enforcement official to look into possible violations of the Invasion of Privacy Act, which bars recording people without their permission.”

 

Pelosi says Democrats ‘overwhelmingly’ against defunding Planned Parenthood

The following comes from a July 30 Politico article by Lauren French:

House Democrats will “overwhelmingly” oppose any government spending bill that defunds Planned Parenthood, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said on Thursday.

The California Democrat’s comments add to the risk that the government will shut down in October if Congress is unable to pass a stopgap measure because of objections from GOP lawmakers to Planned Parenthood’s federal funding.

Eighteen House Republicans told GOP leadership on Wednesday that they are unwilling to back any government spending bill that does not strip the health care organization of the roughly $500 million in taxpayer funds it receives. A series of surreptitiously recorded videos released in recent weeks of Planned Parenthood executives discussing selling fetal tissue and organs has triggered a fierce backlash among congressional Republicans.

“It’s really a distraction,” Pelosi said of Republican threats to block a government funding bill over the issue. “Shutting down the government is a terrible option … and it proved to be very unpopular when Republicans did it before. Let’s hope … cooler heads prevail.”

Pelosi added that if Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is unable to muscle 218 votes from his caucus to pass a continuing resolution, she is hopeful that the Ohio Republican will opt to work with Democrats. That, Pelosi said, would give Democrats “some influence over what’s in that CR.”

David Daleiden, the man behind the Planned Parenthood videos, speaks out in the following July 31 CNN video: