The Department of Justice has launched a federal investigation into Planned Parenthood, Fox News reported Thursday. The DOJ wrote to the Senate Judiciary Committee requesting unredacted documents from their investigation into the illegal selling of baby body parts for profit by Planned Parenthood.
According to Fox News, Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) asked for assurance that the documents would be used for investigative purposes and received confirmation from the DOJ of the federal investigation into the nation’s largest abortion provider.
Justice Department Assistant Attorney General for Legislative Affairs Stephen Boyd wrote, “the Department of Justice appreciates the offer of assistance in obtaining these materials, and would like to request the Committee provide unredacted copies of records contained in the report, in order to further the Department’s ability to conduct a thorough and comprehensive assessment of that report based on the full range of information available.”
“At this point, the records are intended for investigative use only—we understand that a resolution from the Senate may be required if the Department were to use any of the unredacted materials in a formal legal proceeding, such as a grand jury,” Boyd added.
The FBI also requested unredacted documents from the Senate Judiciary Committee last month.
Sen. Grassley referred Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers to the FBI for investigation last December after a long investigation prompted by undercover videos from the Center for Medical Progress that called into question the abortion providers’ compliance with laws against trafficking in fetal tissue.
Grassley wrote at the time that the Committee’s findings document “substantial evidence suggesting that the specific entities involved in the recent controversy, and/or individuals employed by those entities, may have violated that law. Moreover, that evidence is contained entirely in those entities’ own records, which were voluntarily provided to the Committee and are detailed in the report.”