Sen. Cramer, Colleagues Call on the Trump Administration to Investigate Planned Parenthood

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) joined two letters led by Senator Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) and signed by over two dozen senators calling on the U.S. Department of Treasury to investigate Planned Parenthood’s abuse of the taxpayer-funded Paycheck Protection Program, and urging the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to expand its ongoing investigation of Planned Parenthood in the wake of new evidence of criminal activity.

The letter to Treasury urges the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery (SIGPR) at Treasury to investigate the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans 43 Planned Parenthood affiliates wrongly received and look into Planned Parenthood Federation of America’s (PPFA) involvement in the affiliates’ application process.

“We ask that you investigate how these affiliates were able to obtain PPP loans despite their ineligibility under the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) affiliation rules, whether any Planned Parenthood affiliates knowingly provided false information in their PPP loan applications, and to what extent the parent organization PPFA was involved in the application process for said loans,” wrote the senators.

Click here to read the letter to Treasury.

The letter to DOJ follows a recently released video from the Center for Medical Progress that includes Planned Parenthood and biomedical company officials admitting to infanticide and fetal tissue trafficking under oath. The letter requests an update on DOJ’s investigation into Planned Parenthood, information on any follow up actions taken since the Senate Judiciary Committee’s criminal referrals were sent in 2016, and a list of prosecutions and investigations into criminal behavior, such as fetal trafficking, infanticide and fraudulent abuse of PPP loans.

“Planned Parenthood’s abuse of taxpayer PPP dollars is yet another example of Planned Parenthood’s flagrant disregard for the law,” wrote the senators. “We urge you to investigate not only the extent to which Planned Parenthood was involved in the sale of fetal tissue, but also the disturbing descriptions by Planned Parenthood workers of infants born alive who were left to die or killed through organ harvesting.”

Click here to read the letter to DOJ.

Supporters:

Senators Cramer and Loeffler were joined on the letter to Treasury by Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).

Senators Cramer and Loeffler were joined on the letter to DOJ by Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), James Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).