Wash. Post's Image-Bolstering Profile Of Planned Parenthood Smear Artist Ignores Crucial Facts

A largely positive Washington Post profile of David Daleiden, the person behind the deceptively-edited videos smearing Planned Parenthood, left out important facts surrounding Daleiden and the controversy his work has stirred, including that repeated investigations into the videos found no wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood.

In the October 14 article titled "Meet the millennial who infiltrated the guarded world of abortion providers," the Post described Daleiden as the “slim young man with the Clark Kent glasses” and reported that his videos “shed harsh new light on the venerable women's health organization, capturing officials sipping wine while joking about abortion and appearing to haggle over the price of fetal tissue.”

But the profile never mentions that multiple federal and state investigations have reviewed Daleiden's deceptively-edited videos and already cleared Planned Parenthood of wrongdoing. Even Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) who chaired the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that is investigating Planned Parenthood based on Daleiden's videos has admitted that his investigations have found no evidence of wrongdoing from Planned Parenthood.

Additionally, the Post's profile discusses Daleidan's relationship with a notorious anti-choice activist who he says gave him advice how to run his operation against Planned Parenthood, Mark Crutcher. The Post reports that years ago, Crutcher “had infiltrated a Planned Parenthood clinic in Kansas to prove that it was illegally selling fetal tissue. But after an investigation by ABC's '20/20' and a congressional inquiry, the clinic was cleared of wrongdoing.”

But the report leaves out that Crutcher's allegations of illegal activity fell apart when Crutcher's lynchpin witness -- who had made claims during that 20/20 appearance similar to the allegations promoted by Daleidan -- later admitted to lying about having seen illegal activity.