FBI director denies targeting pro-life activists

FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies before the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on July 24, 2024, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 25, 2024 / 14:50 pm (CNA).

FBI Director Christopher Wray denied in his testimony to Congress on Wednesday that the bureau under the Biden administration has been targeting pro-life activists.

Wray claimed while testifying to the House Judiciary Committee that the bureau has primarily focused its attention on investigating pro-abortion extremists rather than pro-life activists since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

This comes just months after several pro-life advocates, including several elderly individuals, were sentenced to years in prison for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act during a “rescue” attempt at a Washington, D.C., abortion clinic in 2020.

The FACE Act, signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994, imposes criminal penalties on individuals convicted of “violent, threatening, damaging, and obstructive conduct” that interferes with access to abortion clinics, places of worship, and pregnancy centers.

Several House and Senate Republicans, including Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, have been calling for the FACE Act to be repealed because they say it is being unequally applied to target pro-life advocates.

Wray’s claim was in response to a question raised by Roy about whether the FBI was justified in its use of the FACE Act to sentence Paulette Harlow, a 75-year-old grandmother with a serious medical condition.

Harlow was sentenced to two years in prison for her involvement in the 2020 rescue.

“Do you think it is appropriate for a 75-year-old woman who was praying at a clinic in D.C. to be put in prison for two years for that activity?” Roy asked.

The FBI director claimed that he was “not familiar with this specific case” and said he didn’t want to weigh in without knowing all the facts.

“What I can tell you,” Wray said, “is that when it comes to FACE Act enforcement and abortion-related violent extremism, I think one of the things that gets lost, and I appreciate the opportunity to clarify it, is that really since the Dobbs decision actually more of our abortion-related violent extremism investigations have focused on violence against pro-life facilities as opposed to the other way around.”

Roy responded that the data shared with his office contradicts Wray’s claim and that the FBI has yet to respond to his request for additional data.

Roy’s office shared data obtained from the Department of Justice with CNA on Thursday. The data shows a significant increase in FACE Act indictments against pro-life activists starting in 2022. According to the data shared with CNA, 26 pro-life advocates were sentenced under the FACE Act in 2022 compared with just two in the previous year.

In comparison, only four pro-abortion activists have been charged with violating the FACE Act since 2022, despite numerous attacks against pro-life groups and pregnancy centers after Roe’s overturn.

In an interview with Fox News after the Wednesday hearing, Roy decried the FBI for not being able to stop the attempted assassination of former president Donald Trump, saying: “Meanwhile they put a 75-year-old woman in prison for two years because she was praying at an abortion clinic. Their priorities are all out of whack.”

Roy asked: “What on earth does the FBI actually do besides putting a 75-year-old grandmother in prison?”

The Department of Justice did not reply to CNA’s request for comment.