What it says: The report from the Justice Department’s “Weaponization Working Group” accused former Attorney General Merrick Garland of being biased in his enforcement of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act by aggressively charging anti-abortion activists rather than abortion rights protesters.
It also alleges Biden’s DOJ “closely collaborated with pro-abortion groups to track pro-life activists’ First Amendment activity” and initiated search warrants and charges on “evidence and dossiers” those groups compiled.
DOJ view: “This Department will not tolerate a two-tiered system of justice,” acting-Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement announcing the report. “No Department should conduct selective prosecution based on beliefs. The weaponization that happened under the Biden Administration will not happen again, as we restore integrity to our prosecutorial system.”
View from critics: But the report included little evidence to back up its sweeping claims of politically motivated prosecutions and former DOJ attorneys said it ignored multiple court rulings and jury verdicts that resulted from the charges.
They said the report mischaracterized a surge in violence, threats and blockades directed at abortion clinics as peaceful protests and expressions of religious faith.
Trump’s moves: Shortly after taking office last year, Trump pardoned 23 people accused of FACE Act violations, including a group convicted of a 2020 planned blockade of a District of Columbia-area abortion clinic. Protesters bound themselves with chains and locks and physically obstructed clinic staff and patients during the blockade, which was livestreamed on social media.
Earlier this year, the Justice Department charged 39 people — including former CNN anchor Don Lemon — with FACE Act violations stemming from their involvement in an anti-ICE protest at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota.
