A new Justice Department (DOJ) report details specific ways the Biden Administration weaponized its law enforcement arm to persecute pro-life individuals and organizations.
Titled “The Biden Administration’s Weaponization of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act,” the report released Tuesday presents the findings of the Justice Department’s Weaponization Working Group’s review of more than 700,000 internal records and provides more than 800 pages of exhibits documenting abuse of federal law enforcement power.
According to the report, the working group’s research yielded five “key findings”:
- The Biden DOJ violated the rights of Americans by its biased enforcement of the FACE Act.
- The Biden DOJ collaborated with pro-abortion groups to track pro-life activists’ First Amendment activity.
- Biden DOJ prosecutors engaged in inappropriate conduct and comments.
- The Biden DOJ pursued more severe charges and significantly harsher sentences for peaceful pro-life defendants than violent pro-abortion defendants.
- The Biden DOJ sought to provide funding to pro-abortion groups.
In a press release announcing the report’s release, DOJ highlights some of the Biden Administration’s pro-abortion weaponization of government power uncovered (emphasis added):
- “The Biden DOJ closely collaborated with pro-abortion groups to track pro-life activists’ First Amendment activity. Pro-abortion groups—especially the National Abortion Federation, Planned Parenthood, and Feminist Majority Foundation—capitalized on their relationship with the Biden DOJ to gain internal information and push targets for enforcement.”
- “The Biden DOJ’s prosecutors engaged in inappropriate conduct and comments. Prosecutors knowingly withheld evidence that defense counsel requested to prepare an affirmative defense, tried to screen out jurors based on religion, and authorized aggressive arrest tactics instead of allowing pro-life defendants to self-surrender.”
- “The Biden DOJ helped a pro-abortion group secure funding. The lead prosecutor on each FACE Act prosecution served as a reference on the National Abortion Federation’s application for a private grant.”
- “The Biden DOJ pursued significantly harsher sentences for pro-life defendants than violent pro-abortion defendants. The Biden DOJ requested an average sentence of 26.8 months for pro-life defendants, compared to 12.3 months for pro-abortion defendants.”
- “The Biden DOJ violated the rights of Americans through its biased enforcement of the FACE Act. Though the Act was supposed to protect both pro-choice and pro-life facilities, the Biden DOJ provided extensive support to abortion clinics, while ignoring and downplaying vandalism and attacks against pregnancy resource centers.”
“The behavior unearthed in this report is shameful,” said Assistant Attorney General Daniel Burrows, Office of Legal Policy. “Lawyers who should have known better withheld evidence, worked to keep committed religious people off juries, and generally allowed the Department of Justice to be used as the enforcement arm of pro-abortion special interests.”
