Fox Host Defends CMP After Its Creators' Indictment: “Journalists Use These Techniques Everyday”

The Center For Medical Progress Is An Anti-Choice Organization, Not A Group Of Investigative Journalists

From the January 26 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:

Video file

STEVE DOOCY (HOST): A stunning turn in the investigation into Planned Parenthood. Activists from the anti-abortion group who documented these potentially illegal practices by Planned Parenthood, the activists are now facing charges. The group's founder was indicted last night by a grand jury for tampering with government records. Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano joins us live. So this grand jury was looking into whether or not Planned Parenthood had broken any laws. And rather than saying, yeah, they broke the laws, they said the people who did the investigating broke the laws.

ANDREW NAPOLITANO: This is really a head-scratcher. And I'm beginning to think that it is a political hit job on the people who did the investigating. So you have bonafide journalists assuming identities, pretending to be medical ethicists or people in the business of dealing with body parts going to Planned Parenthood saying, all these abortions, are you really selling the body parts? Well, yeah, we are. We do that with this. We do that with this. Are you interested in any further sale of the body parts? While they're having this conversation, pretending to be somebody that they're not, they're really, seriously pro-life people wanting to expose how government dollars are being used by Planned Parenthood, they are taping this. The tapes came out. There's a big uproar. The Lieutenant Governor of Texas, Dan Patrick, a fiercely pro-life person, asks this prosecutor to investigate. She investigates. Now, what does investigate mean? You empanel a grand jury of 23 people. You tell them who your target is.

DOOCY: Planned Parenthood.

NAPOLITANO: Right, and you produce evidence. The grand jury does not turn around and indict your witnesses, the people who brought you the case, without the prosecutor wanting this to happen. So why would this prosecutor appointed by Governor Perry, a former judge, a Republican woman, why would this prosecutor want to do this, other than to send a message like, I might be a Republican, but leave Planned Parenthood alone? Leave it alone -- they're using tax dollars to kill babies and sell their body parts.

DOOCY: Apparently one of the charges is purchasing human organs, all right. How can you be indicted for purchasing human organs without indicting the --

NAPOLITANO: Seller

DOOCY: -- selling the human organs?

NAPOLITANO: You know, this type of indictment will chill, will deter journalists who want to have conversations with people. You have a conversation --

DOOCY: Journalists use the techniques every day. 60 Minutes20/20 --

NAPOLITANO: And so does the government use these techniques.

DOOCY: Of course.

NAPOLITANO: There's a bad person out there. You find out how far they will go in their evil designs. The person having the conversation is not committing a crime because they don't have the intent to commit the crime. They're just trying to find out if the other is willing to do so. Now here's the other whacky thing about this. This indictment was announced about 6:00 last night. No indictment. The document is not out there.

DOOCY: Why would that be?

NAPOLITANO: It's unheard of for them to do this. Announce the indictment, say what the charges are. But don't produce the indictment. So none of us who are commenting on it, in fairness to these prosecutors, none of us have seen it.

DOOCY: Don't know the details.

NAPOLITANO: Right.

DOOCY: But ultimately your gut tells you --

NAPOLITANO: Political hit job.

DOOCY: Planned Parenthood says they've been exonerated.

NAPOLTIANO: Oh, Planned Parenthood is delighted. They're not exonerated. There are investigations in 14 different states still going on.

Previously:

Fox's Megyn Kelly Asks Whether Indictment Against Center For Medical Progress Is A “Political Hit Job”

Grand Jury Indicts Creators Of Smear Videos, Clears Planned Parenthood Of Wrongdoing

Misinformer Of The Year: The Center For Medical Progress