On Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding answers about recent allegations that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was secretly surveilling meetings of the pro-life group Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU).
The PAAU alleged last month the FBI sent an undercover informant to record their group 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 which stipulate she is prohibited from entering abortion centers,” the group’s Twitter account wrote. “Handy made headlines last year when she along with 10 others including PAAU Executive Board member Herb Geraghty and pro-life icon Joan Andrews Bell were charged under the FACE Act (Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances).”
“Each of the defendants are facing 11 years in federal prison for allegedly blocking access to a Washington D.C. all-term abortion business run by Cesare Santangelo, also known as ‘The Butcher of D.C.’ in the fall of 2020,” they added.
In the letter, Sen. Cruz and Rep. Roy wrote, “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 American people deserve the truth – are their tax dollars and federal law enforcement agencies being used to spy on pro-life Americans?”
The lawmakers then demanded answers to the following questions, “Did the FBI send an undercover informant to a pro-life meeting at the Watergate hotel on January 19, 2023?”
“For what reason(s) did the FBI and DOJ consider it necessary for an FBI informant to attend this pro-life meeting? Please provide all correspondence regarding the decision-making process for an undercover FBI informant to attend the abovementioned meeting on January 19, 2023,” they asked. “Does the FBI regularly send undercover FBI informant to pro-life meetings? If so, please explain the rationale behind FBI informants attending pro-life meetings.”
“Are these action in anyway related to ongoing investigations regarding violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act?” they asked. “Explain the FBI’s rational for using bureau resources to spy on pro-life meetings?”
“Does the FBI view pro-life Americans as domestic terrorists?” they concluded.