Documents obtained by the Functional Government Initiative illustrate how much influence abortion groups had in Department of Justice probes.

(Washington, DC) –  Everybody has seen the “Lady Justice” statue, depicting the ideal of justice as a blindfolded woman. The blindfold symbolizes the equality of every American citizen before the law, regardless of race, sex, group membership or economic class, and with no intermediary – no special interests – between the citizen and the law.

That is the ideal. Unfortunately, the Biden Department of Justice (DOJ) may not have met that ideal in its investigations of pro-life Americans.

New Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) records obtained by the Functional Government Initiative (FGI) reveal that the nation’s largest abortion association seems to have influenced controversial federal Freedom to Access Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act investigations. The documents paint a disturbing picture of DOJ’s eagerness to meet with pro-abortion lobbyists and activists and punish pro-life Americans in the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision.

According to emails from early January 2023, Robert Ledogar, a security officer for the National Abortion Federation (NAF), reached out to then-Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke — whose confirmation process was fraught with controversy — requesting a meeting the week of January 15, just ahead of the annual pro-life March for Life scheduled for January 20. Ledogar told Clarke that his team would be attending pro-life conferences and rallies “such as the March for Life, so that we can identify and witness the extremists that find the need to prevent reproductive health care.”

Meetings such as the one Ledogar sought were apparently not unprecedented. He noted he had “witnessed an amazing relationship [between] the NAF Security Director Michelle Davidson and members of the DOJ Civil Rights Division,” including Assistant U.S. Attorney Sanjay Patel — the director of DOJ’s  “Task Force on Violence Against Reproductive Health Providers.” Patel developed the strategy for several FACE Act convictions back in August 2023 and has now been called to appear before the House Judiciary Committee for his aggressive  prosecution, and loss at trial, of a case against pro-life advocate Robert Hauck.

In the email, Ledogar went on to boast that NAF took part in several DOJ investigations while working with Assistant U.S. Attorneys and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) across seven states.

“The past year, NAF Security has been part of several FACE Act investigations, working with AUSA’s (sic) and FBI in TN, FL, CA, NY, MD and NC,” Ledogar wrote. “The guidance from the team in DC has been nothing short of superb.”

Clarke went on to forward the meeting request to Deputy Assistant Attorney General Robert Moossy, the then-Deputy Chief of the DOJ Civil Rights Division’s criminal section — whose team “prosecuted federal civil rights crimes across the country, including police misconduct, hate crimes and human trafficking” — with Patel copied on the email. She then asked if there were any concerns about the invitation, to which Moossy responded, “CrimSec has no concerns.”

This raises many questions about this behavior by the DOJ Civil Rights Division leadership. Were the so-called investigations unduly influenced by NAF and other abortion activists? How far did this influence extend in the DOJ and other federal agencies? Does this mean convictions may not be valid? Did those prosecuted for FACE Act violations have their own civil rights violated?

Roderick Law, spokesman for FGI, issued the following statement:

“These emails reveal undue influence of abortion activists on federal law enforcement investigations, and violations of DOJ norms. The Biden DOJ Civil Rights Division actions undertaken with outside influence appear to violate the civil rights of the Americans convicted under the FACE Act. It sounds like NAF and other abortion activists were trying to remove Lady Justice’s blindfold, and Kristen Clarke and Sanjay Patel were allowing it. Action must be taken.”

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