Congressman demands records from DOJ detailing FACE Act abortion prosecutions: 'Easily weaponized'
Rep. Chip Roy accused the DOJ of 'stonewalling attempts' from Congress to access data about FACE Act prosecutions
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, demanded that the Department of Justice (DOJ) turn over documents detailing each prosecution under the Freedom of Access Clinic Entrances Act, or FACE Act, since the law was passed in 1994.
Noting how investigative reporters at the Center for Investigative Reporting were apparently offered a copy of a FOIA request with such information, Roy asked the DOJ's Office of Information Policy Director Bobak Talebian to provide such documentation by Oct. 20, according to the letter that was provided to Fox News Digital.
A spokesperson for Roy's office noted that the DOJ failed to meet the Oct. 20 deadline.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Multiple pro-life activists have recently been arrested nationwide for alleged violations of the FACE Act, which makes it a federal crime to use force with the intent to injure, intimidate and interfere with anyone because that person provides reproductive health care.
"Yet again, the Biden administration is systematically stonewalling members of Congress," Roy said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. "In this case, flat-out ignoring a demand for basic, historical information about FACE Act enforcement that already exists, has already been compiled and has already been provided to a left-wing organization."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}22 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS PRESS GARLAND FOR ANSWERS ON ARREST OF PRO-LIFE CATHOLIC ACTIVIST MARK HOUCK
"This administration should release the data to the public immediately," the Texas congressman said. "What are they trying to hide?"
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, speaks at a news conference about the National Defense Authorization Bill at the Capitol on Sept. 22, 2021 in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
"The American people and their representatives must decide whether this administration or any presidential administration can be trusted with the power delegated to the DOJ by the FACE Act," Roy continued, adding that the law is "an easily weaponized, likely unconstitutional statute that usurps state powers with the sole purpose of empowering the federal government to target citizens at will."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I will continue to hold this administration accountable for its unprecedented use of the FACE Act and Congress responsible for delegating sweeping power to unaccountable executive branch bureaucrats decades ago," Roy added.
Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. (Carolyn Kaster-Pool/Getty Images)
Peter Breen, senior counsel at the Thomas More Society, who is representing pro-life Catholic activist Mark Houck after he was arrested by the FBI in September under the FACE Act, told Fox News Digital that "there are serious questions whether the FACE Act can even be applied post-Dobbs," referencing the Supreme Court decision in June that returned abortion rights back to the states.
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The DOJ did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment regarding why they did not respond to the congressman's letter.