12 GOP senators demand explanation for FBI arrest of pro-life activist

EXCLUSIVE – Twelve Republican senators are demanding an explanation from the Justice Department about the FBI's decision to surround the home of a pro-life activist and arrest him in front of his family.

In a Tuesday letter, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and 11 other senators asked Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray for more information about the arrest and indictment of pro-life activist Mark Houck. Officials have charged Houck with violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act (FACE Act), apparently in relation to an incident in which Houck pushed an abortion clinic worker who allegedly yelled profanities at Houck's 11-year-old son.

While the incident between the two parties was dropped, the Justice Department told Houck in April 2022 that he was being investigated for violating the FACE Act. The Senate letter says Houck's lawyer said he was willing to cooperate in the investigation, and then, last week, as many as 20 FBI agents surrounded Houck's home "wearing armor plated tactical vests, ballistic helmets and holding ballistic shields and long guns."

The senators are demanding to know why DOJ took such a heavy hand with Houck, and whether it reflects a political bias within the department.

"This extraordinary fact pattern requires additional information from the Justice Department and the FBI relating to why Mr. Houck was not allowed to self-report for his arrest and arraignment and whether political considerations were made to approve and execute the search warrant," they wrote.

They also asked why it took so long for the DOJ to indict Houck, a list of officials who approved the investigation and the arrest, how many officials were involved.

The FACE Act makes it a federal crime, with potentially steep fines and jail time, to use or threaten to use force to "injure, intimidate, or interfere" with a person seeking reproductive health services.

Fox News Digital obtained an email from one of Houck’s attorneys, former federal prosecutor Matt Heffron, to U. S. Attorney General Anita Eve in which he said a FACE Act charge is unlikely to hold up in court. Heffron concluded that, "If the government decides to go forward nonetheless, I will accept a summons on my client’s behalf, rather put Mr. Houck and his family through needless disruption."

The senators said in their letter that Eve did not respond to Heffron after at least two other attempts, and that Heffron, "made clear to the committee that he and Mr. Houck were cooperative with the Justice Department; however, in return the Justice Department failed to communicate with them."... (Read more)

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