Since the fall of Roe v. Wade, violence against pregnancy centers and houses of worship has been on the rise. Rather than prosecuting these acts of violence and reproductive vengeance, the U.S. Department of Justice is facing questions about FBI investigations that have targeted pro-life Americans.
On March 2, 2023, two Republican U.S. lawmakers from Texas — Rep. Chip Roy and Senator Ted Cruz — wrote a letter to AG Merrick Garland demanding to know why the Federal Bureau of Investigation sent an informant into a pro-life meeting, and asked if the agency views pro-life Americans as domestic terrorists.
“Allegations that the FBI is spying on pro-life gatherings in tandem with the rise in high-profile FBI investigations into pro-life Americans raise well-founded concerns for millions of Americans,” the letter says. “The American people deserve the truth – are their tax dollars and federal law enforcement agencies being used to spy on pro-life Americans?”
Questions from the lawmakers include:
- Does the FBI regularly send undercover FBI informants to pro-life meetings?
- Explain the Bureau’s resources to spy on pro-life meetings.
- Does the FBI view pro-life Americans as domestic terrorists?
The deadline to answer these questions is March 8, 2023.
Rather than prosecuting the firebombing of churches and violence against pregnancy resource centers, the Department of Justice is weaponizing the FBI to spy on pro-life Americans like @PAAUNOW.
Senator @tedcruz and Rep @chiproytxre are holding the FBI accountable. pic.twitter.com/UFipuHquWJ
— Lila Rose (@LilaGraceRose) March 3, 2023
The FBI has refused to comment. When Fox News interviewed FBI Director Christopher Wray about the alleged informant, he declined to answer. “Well, as I’m sure you can appreciate, Bret, I can’t really appropriately talk about when, where, and how we use confidential informants.”
This Congressional letter came as a response to the FBI’s alleged targeting of a D.C. pro-life event during the week of the National March for Life.
for the Federal Bureau of Investigation during a recent PAAU meeting. The prosecutors attempted to claim this recording of Handy discussing plans for nonviolent direct actions in and around abortion businesses was a violation of her terms of release in her ongoing federal case
— PAAU (@PAAUNOW) February 22, 2023
On the evening of January 23, 2023, I attended a Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU) meeting at the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C. To my surprise, I learned later of a report that an FBI informant was also there that night.
The purported FBI informant’s name was given as ‘Eric Mike Santos.’ Not long after this undercover stint, the informant’s recording was weaponized in federal court and used as evidence that PAAU’s Director of Activism, Lauren Handy, had allegedly violated her terms of release.
“The American people deserve to know if their tax dollars and federal law enforcement agencies are being used to spy on pro-life Americans,” said Cruz, “and we will continue to press the Department of Justice for the answers they owe the public.”
The purpose of the law is to protect the innocent, not target and criminalize them. This letter demands answers, bringing to light a potentially gross abuse of federal law enforcement by targeting peaceful pro-lifers who are saving lives.
