The September 23 FBI raid of a Pennsylvania anti-abortion activist has prompted members of the Senate judiciary committee to launch their own investigation into the conduct of federal law enforcement, according to a letter they sent U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.
The man at the center of this story is Mark Houck, an anti-abortion activist who was indicted on two charges under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act.
The FBI arrested Houck in an early morning raid that included “20 or more” agents with guns drawn. Houck’s wife explained, “They said they were going to break in if [my husband] didn’t open [the door]. And then they had about five guns pointed at my husband, myself, and basically at my kids.”
Houck’s indictment stems from an October 13, 2021, incident in which Houck allegedly pushed “an abortion clinic worker who allegedly shouted obscenities at Mr. Houck’s 11-year-old son and invaded his personal space, refusing to leave him alone.”
Houck’s lawyer, Matt Heffron, explained that Philadelphia police declined to make an arrest or pursue prosecution for the incident at the time. The abortion clinic worker later filed a criminal complaint, but this too was dismissed from court on April 22, 2022, after the individual “failed to appear at least two times for the scheduled trial.”
Soon after this dismissal, however, Houck received a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) informing him that he was under investigation for potential violations of the “Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act of 1994” or FACE Act.
The legislation “makes it a federal crime to use force with the intent to injure, intimidate, and interfere with anyone because that person is a provider of reproductive health care.”
After Houck received this notice, he hired Heffron, a former federal prosecutor, as his defense counsel. Heffron maintains that he made repeated attempts to contact the DOJ Assistant U.S. Attorney Anita Eve via phone calls, voice messages, and emails.
Heffron alleged that in these communications, he made it clear his client was willing to cooperate and would appear voluntarily if summoned by federal authorities. Yet the federal government never responded to or acknowledged these communications.
The DOJ’s investigation eventually led to an indictment on two counts punishable by a combined “11 years in federal prison, three years of supervised release, and fines up to $350,000.”
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) wrote in a separate September 26 letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, “Not only did your office turn a local dispute into a national case, but the FBI reportedly executed the search warrant in as extreme a manner as one can imagine.”
The Philadelphia FBI office has denied wrongdoing, suggesting that “the number of personnel and vehicles widely reported as being on scene Friday is an overstatement, and the tactics used by FBI personnel were professional, in line with standard practices, and intended to ensure the safety of everyone present in and outside the residence.”
Hawley released his letter publicly on Twitter, saying, “I want to know from Merrick Garland directly why Biden’s DOJ is arresting Catholic protestors like terrorists — complete with SWAT-style tactics — while letting actual terrorist acts like fire bombings go unpunished.”
The fire bombings to which he refers are a reference to the “epidemic of violence across the country by pro-abortion extremists against pregnancy resource centers, houses of worship, and pro-life Americans — violent acts that are prohibited by the very same law under which you are charging Mark Houck,” Hawley wrote.
Citing over 100 incidents, Hawley decried, “Despite my repeated requests, you still have not identified a single prosecution the Department of Justice has taken in response to this epidemic of violence against pro-life Americans.”
The Republican members of the Senate judiciary committee ended their letter with questions they would like answered before beginning their inquiry into the conduct of the FBI, including the names of those involved in key decisions as well as the justification used for not allowing Houck to surrender voluntarily upon being charged.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) tweeted a brief video interview of him discussing this topic in which he said, “Merrick Garland has done more damage to the credibility of the Justice Department and the FBI than any attorney general in history.”