Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Odd grand jury action over those Planned Parenthood videos

Word came yesterday that a grand jury in Houston, Texas had indicted two anti-abortion activists in connection with undercover "sting" videos that apparently showed Planned Parenthood officials negotiating the sale of fetal organs and tissues.

TheFederalist.com notes:
According to a press release from the office of Harris County district attorney’s office which was provided to The Federalist, (David) Daleiden was charged with the purchase and sale of human organs, a misdemeanor, and with tampering with a governmental record, a felony. Sandra Merritt, one of Daleiden’s associates, was also charged with tampering with a governmental record.
TheFederalist.com also notes:
Lauren Reeder, one of the prosecutors in the Harris County district attorney’s office, revealed last August that she was a member of the board of directors for the Planned Parenthood affiliate that was targeted by Daleiden. 
This seems awfully strange.

Planned Parenthood gets absolved of wrongdoing, yet prosecutors in Houston apparently think they can convince a trial jury that the makers of anti-abortion videos were actually trafficking in fetal organs.

Prosecutors chose to pursue the alleged "purchaser," but in the eyes of the law there apparently was no seller. Did cash or other compensation exchange hands? Keep in mind, it was the activists who were the whistle blowers here, not Planned Parenthood.

And what's the "government record" that's allegedly been tampered with?

I'm also struck that the Republican district attorney in Harris County, currently an appointee serving out the remaining term of her deceased husband, faces an election contest this year. And Harris County is a Texas county that has been voting Democrat in recent years.

District Attorney Devon Anderson may be using her prosecutorial powers to pander to Democrat voters. And she seemingly chose to wait until after qualifying for the Republican primary had closed in timing this action by the Harris County grand jury.

Maybe Anderson thought herself clever by timing the indictment after primary qualifying had closed. But I can't see a local Republican establishment lining up behind this kind of legal chicanery. But then again, today's Republicans, even on the local level, may be just as morally corrupted as many who serve in Washington.

I'm thinking, come next January, Harris County's may have a Democrat DA.

Three Democrats have qualified for their party's March 1st primary.

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