Pro-life journalist David Daleiden rips Kamala Harris' 'radical disrespect and contempt' for First Amendment

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Kamala Harris' support for Planned Parenthood under fire after raid on pro-life activist

Trump 2020 campaign director of press communications Erin Perrine and Center for Medical Progress founder David Daleiden react.

Center for Medical Progress founder David Daleiden blasted Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Wednesday for what he described as her "radical disrespect and contempt" for the First Amendment.

"I hope that all Americans ... are going to be able to come together to oppose the kind of radical disrespect and contempt for the First Amendment and for First Amendment civil liberties that Kamala Harris has demonstrated throughout her career," Daleiden told "Hannity."

As California's attorney general, Harris sued Daleiden through an unprecendented application of an eavesdropping law, which he alleges was intended to supress his work. In 2015, Daleiden released secretly recorded videos of Planned Parenthood officials discussing fetal tissue procurement. The videos sparked a media firestorm and prompted federal scrutiny that continues five years after their release.

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In December 2019, a judge pared down the eavesdropping case, which carries criminal charges, lopping off five charges the court said lacked "probable cause to establish" that some of the recorded conversations were "confidential communications" under law. At the end of last month, a judge dropped three more charges in the case.

"I have been on the receiving end of her abuse of power," Daleiden told Fox News host Sean Hannity.

Under Harris, California authorities raided Daleiden's home for evidence -- prompting questions about her relationship with Planned Parenthood, which has donated to her and many other Democrats. In May, Daleiden filed a lawsuit alleging that Harris conspired to violate his civil rights through a bogus prosecution.

Planned Parenthood has described Daleiden's group as "discredited."  Daleiden has been successfully sued by PPFA – earning them $2 million in damages, and continues to face some criminal charges.

"David Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress intentionally waged a multi-year illegal effort to manufacture a malicious campaign against Planned Parenthood," Acting CEO Alexis McGill Johnson said in November. Planned Parenthood has denied selling fetal tissue and multiple state investigations have found that affiliates did not engage in illegal practices.

While the federal government hasn't brought any criminal charges, the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee did send criminal referrals to the Justice Department, which opened an investigation into the group.

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For Daleiden and others, the core of the ongoing saga is whether Planned Parenthood violated federal law by selling fetal tissue. Unsealed documents revealed Planned Parenthood charged a biospecimen company nearly $25,000 for fetal tissue and maternal blood samples in 2012.

Planned Parenthood has defended itself by claiming that its charges related to transportation and time spent by staff. The invoices don't mention either of those, however, nor do they contain the word "reimbursement." Instead, they assign a fee per body part. Specifically, the previously released contract between those organizations showed that the exchanges were based on "POC determined in the clinic to be usable."