The Justice Department released a report Tuesday alleging the Biden administration weaponized federal law by selectively prosecuting pro-life activists under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, following a review of more than 700,000 internal records.
DOJ officials said prosecutors coordinated with abortion-rights groups to track activists, sought harsher sentences for pro-life defendants and, in some cases, withheld evidence or tried to exclude jurors based on religion.
“This department will not tolerate a two-tiered system of justice,” Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement. “No Department should conduct selective prosecution based on beliefs. The weaponization that happened under the Biden Administration will not happen again, as we restore integrity to our prosecutorial system.”
PRO-LIFE JOURNALIST ASSAULTED ON STREET ASSIGNS BLAME TO DEMOCRATIC RHETORIC
The Justice Department’s “Weaponization Working Group” — a review team created under the Trump administration to examine whether federal law was used in a biased or politically motivated way — said it reviewed internal communications, case files and prosecutorial decisions tied to enforcement of the FACE Act, a law intended to protect access to abortion clinics and pregnancy resource centers.
The report found officials under the Biden administration worked closely with groups including Planned Parenthood, the National Abortion Federation and the Feminist Majority Foundation, which helped compile information on pro-life activists used in investigations and prosecutions.
The report said, “The Biden DOJ prosecutors knowingly withheld evidence that defense counsel requested to prepare an affirmative defense.”
In one case, a DOJ official told defense counsel, “I do not keep the kind of records you requested and, as a result, I do not believe that we will provide them to you,” when asked for data to support a selective prosecution defense.
The report said the official had the information “readily available” but declined to share it with the defense.
PLANNED PARENTHOOD APOLOGIZES FOR ‘INADVERTENTLY’ GIVING SEXUALLY EXPLICIT COLORING BOOK TO CHILDREN
The report also alleged prosecutors attempted to screen out jurors based on religious beliefs and, in some cases, opted for aggressive arrest tactics rather than allowing defendants to voluntarily surrender.
For instance, the report cited a case involving pro-life activist Mark Houck in which prosecutors declined a request for him to self-surrender and instead authorized an FBI arrest at his home.
DOJ officials further claimed pro-life defendants faced significantly harsher sentencing requests, with prosecutors seeking an average of 26.8 months in prison compared to 12.3 months for defendants accused of violence against pro-life organizations.
The report argued the Biden administration’s enforcement of the FACE Act was uneven, with authorities prioritizing cases involving abortion clinics while failing to adequately pursue attacks on pregnancy resource centers and churches.
The Justice Department said the Trump administration has already taken steps to reverse course, including issuing pardons for pro-life activists convicted under the prior administration, dismissing several civil cases and limiting future FACE Act prosecutions to “extraordinary circumstances” involving significant aggravating factors.
Assistant Attorney General Daniel Burrows said the findings raised serious concerns about the conduct of department attorneys.
“The behavior unearthed in this report is shameful,” Burrows said in a statement. “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.”
