California Department of Justice agents raided the home of indicted pro-life activist David Daleiden in Orange County, California on Wednesday and confiscated video materials that link Planned Parenthood officials to the illegal sale of foetal tissue.
The agents "seized all video footage showing Planned Parenthood's criminal trade in aborted baby parts, in addition to my personal information," said Daleiden, founder of the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), in a Facebook post.
California Attorney General Kamala Harris ordered that Daleiden's apartment be searched Wednesday afternoon on charges that have not yet been made public, according to LifeSite News.
Planned Parenthood earlier accused Daleiden of filing false incorporation papers in California and using a phony driver's license to infiltrate the abortion industry in America.
"California is the focal point of Planned Parenthood's illegal baby-parts-for-profit scheme," the CMP said in a statement released also on Wednesday. "StemExpress partnered with the biggest Planned Parenthood affiliate in the country, [Planned Parenthood] Mar Monte in northern CA, for five years to give them a 'financial benefit.'"
In July, Harris said she would like to examine the undercover videos to see if CMP went against any state charity registration or requirements related to reporting. Harris specifically wants to know whether Daleiden and a colleague posed as representatives of a fake biomedical company, or shot the videos without getting the consent of Planned Parenthood, CBN News reports.
In his Facebook post, Daleiden suggested that politics was behind the raid on his home by federal agents, alleging that Harris has taken in campaign contributions from Planned Parenthood. Harris is running for the U.S. Senate.
Prominent pro-life advocate Penny Nance accused Harris of corruption and abuse of power. "While she uses her KGB-like tactics to seize personal property of an innocent American citizen, she's simultaneously running for U.S. Senate and using her campaign website to promote and defend Planned Parenthood," Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America, said in a statement.
Daleiden faces charges in Texas following the release of his group's undercover videos in August. The release of the videos prompted Texas authorities to launch a grand jury investigation of Planned Parenthood.
However, the grand jury cleared Planned Parenthood of all charges and instead indicted Daleiden and a colleague, Sandra Merritt, for tampering with a governmental record in their use of fake driver's licences as part of their cover to produce the undercover videos.
According to The Washington Times, the jury also charged Daleiden with attempting to procure human organs, specifically foetal tissue, through a fake company.
In his self-defence, Daleiden said CMP obeyed the law when they made the videos. He also called the raid on his California home an "attack on citizen journalism."
"We will pursue all remedies to vindicate our First Amendment rights," he vowed on his Facebook post.
