Tipsheet

Will the DOJ Finally Release FACE Act Data After Targeting Peaceful Pro-Lifers?

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  April 16, 2024 6:30 PM

Conservatives like Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) have been sounding the alarm from the start about how President Joe Biden's Department of Justice (DOJ) has been politicized and weaponized against everyday Americans, especially through the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. During a Tuesday budget hearing for Fiscal Year 2025 that the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies was holding, Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) also raised the issue.

The subcommittee was hearing from Attorney General Merrick Garland himself, with Clyde pressing for more information when it comes to that prosecution data. His post over X pointed out that Roy has also repeatedly requested such data, but has been "repeatedly stonewalled." According to Clyde, his colleague had acted for such data in October 2022 and again in February of this year. 

"When will this data be provided by the Department of Justice," Clyde directly asked. "Um, I don't know specifically about the request," Garland claimed, adding "I'm very happy to look into this." Upon a further push from Clyde, he offered he will "of course" provide the requested data.

The issue here isn't merely that the attorney general doesn't know about multiple requests made from his department on an issue Roy and others have been quite vocal about. Throughout Biden's time in office, the FACE Act has been used to prosecute peaceful pro-life activists praying at abortion facilities. Many have been found guilty and faces crippling fines as well as up to 11 years in prison, even and including the elderly in their 60s and 70s. 

The FACE Act has been used against pro-life activists multiple times this year already, with guilty verdicts coming just earlier this month and also in late January. This comes in addition to guilty verdicts from last September as well.  

Recommended

Why Again Do We Still Have a Special Relationship With the Tyrannical UK? Kurt Schlichter
Bucks County Dem Apologizes for Trying to Steal the PA Senate Race Matt Vespa

In 2022, the DOJ also brought FACE Act charges against Mark Houck for an incident that occurred in October 2021, though it's also worth pointing out that charges had been dismissed by local prosecutors and he had been willing to turn himself in to authorities. A jury found him not guilty on January 30, 2023. Houck has since announced he is running for Congress and that he has filed a lawsuit against the DOJ and FBI. 

After someone leaked the Dobbs v. Jackson decision in early May 2022, which was ultimately handed down in late June 2022 and indeed used to overturn Roe v. Wade, there was a surge of violent attacks against pro-life organizations. A study released in October 2022 from the Crime Research Prevention Center showed that pro-life organizations were 22 more times likely to be met with violence than pro-abortion ones. Nevertheless, we've seen the Biden DOJ focus on going after pro-lifers. 

Roy's press account reposted Clyde's exchange with Garland, pointing out how Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke has also agreed to release such data. There's still crucial questions though, such as "Will the DOJ finally stop stonewalling this information? Or are they afraid it will expose just how much the FACE Act has been weaponized against Americans?"

This wasn't the only moment where Garland's incompetency and the frightening politicization and weaponization of the Biden DOJ was on display, though. 

That the Biden DOJ is targeting peaceful pro-lifers is even more alarming in the context of what else is going on, with Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA) bringing up the "death to America" chants that have recently taken place in Dearborn and in Chicago. 

Garcia used his time to bring up those chants, especially in reference to FBI Director Christopher Wray warning about the precarious position we're in and the open border under the Biden administration. This includes an increase in Chinese immigrants coming illegally and those under the terror watch list. The congressman chided Garland further, reminding him that "eight in 10 Americans feel less secure than they did just three or four years ago."

The congressman also pointed out how "a leader has to be self-aware, they have to have the courage to tell the boss that the boss is screwing up, especially when it's leading to a loss of lives at a level that is unprecedented." That Garland would actually give himself an A, Garcia said with a bit of a chuckle in his voice, under such circumstances, "demonstrates a lack of self-awareness, frankly." 

Garcia chided Garland even further, telling him "I think you've earned an F. I think you need to talk to your boss and tell him that his policies are killing us, not the lack of money."