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California 'lawfare' case against pro-lifers first brought by Kamala Harris ends after nine years

Published

1 year ago

January 28, 2025

California 'lawfare' case against pro-lifers first brought by Kamala Harris ends after nine years

California authorities on Tuesday announced an end to their nearly decade-long criminal prosecution of an independent journalist and an anti-abortion activist who secretly recorded videos showing Planned Parenthood allegedly selling aborted fetal tissue.

The pair at the center of the legal fight, founder of the Center for Medical Progress David Daleiden and journalist Sandra Merritt, agreed to a “no-contest” plea deal on a single charge, resulting in no fines or prison sentences. California prosecutors had at one point pursued up to 15 felony counts in a case Daleiden said was politically motivated “lawfare.”

“My case is the first and only one that was ever criminally charged by the state attorney general’s office, and it was because of Planned Parenthood’s demand to cover up the information that was on those video recordings about how they’re using partial birth abortions to sell late-term aborted baby body parts at their taxpayer funded mega clinics across the state of California and across the country,” Daleiden told Fox News Digital in an interview on Tuesday.

“I’m no expert, but I definitely think that the election has something to do with it,” Daleiden said when asked why he thinks prosecutors dropped the charges all these years later. Daleiden dubbed the litigation “lawfare,” in a post on X.

TRANS INMATE’S LAWSUIT CHALLENGES TRUMP ‘TWO-SEXES’ ORDER CUTTING OFF TAX MONEY FOR GENDER THERAPY

Founder of Center for Medical Progress, David Daleiden, and pro-life journalist Sandra Merritt had their California case dropped with no prison time or fines on Monday. The pair secretly recorded videos showing Planned Parenthood allegedly selling aborted fetal tissue. (Getty Images)

In a statement provided to Fox News Digital, California State Attorney General Rob Bonta said, “While the Trump Administration is issuing pardons to individuals convicted of harming reproductive health clinics and providers, my office is securing criminal convictions to ensure that Californians can exercise their constitutional rights to reproductive healthcare.”

“We will not hesitate to continue taking action against those who threaten access to abortion care — whether by recording confidential conversations or other means,” he said.

Daleiden and Merritt’s plea agreement requires no contact with victims, no public identification of them, and compliance with all laws, including restrictions on recording, according to Bonta’s office.

“[T]his entire case was an exercise in grotesquely political weaponization of government.” – pro-life activist David Daleiden

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As the then-California Attorney General, Kamala Harris initiated an investigation into Daleiden’s Center for Medical Progress, focusing on the legality of their undercover methods and a narrow application of the state’s eavesdropping law following the release of undercover footage. In 2016, a Texas grand jury indicted Daleiden and Merritt on felony charges related to the creation of fake IDs and offering to purchase fetal tissue. These charges, however, were later dismissed.

In April 2016, under then-AG Harris, California authorities raided Daleiden’s home for evidence, prompting questions about her relationship with Planned Parenthood, which has donated to her campaigns and many other Democrats.

Harris was elected to the U.S. Senate months later and resigned as state attorney general in January 2017.

In 2017, California prosecutors under Harris’ successor Xavier Becerra charged Daleiden and Merritt with 15 felony counts, including criminal conspiracy and invasion of privacy, for recording individuals without consent.

“They pursued this case viciously for nine years, because it was such a priority for national Planned Parenthood,” Daleiden said. “But ultimately, it’s a totally weaponized political prosecution. They’re totally wrong on the facts and the law of undercover video reporting in California, all the conversations that me and my team recorded were in public areas where other people could overhear.”

“For the Attorney General’s Office of California to come this far after nine years, and essentially walk away with nothing… just shows this entire case was an exercise in grotesquely political weaponization of government.”

STATE AGS WARN RETAIL GIANT COSTCO FOR DOUBLING DOWN ON ‘DISCRIMINATORY’ DEI

Planned Parenthood is sending a bus to the DNC. (Getty Images)

When the recordings were released, Planned Parenthood maintained it strictly donates the specimens, charging only for transportation and storage costs.

Some of the videos were recorded in 2015 during meetings between Daleiden’s operatives, posing as representatives of a fetal tissue procurement company, and various Planned Parenthood staff members. The hours-long footage published online showed conversations in which Planned Parenthood providers and executives appeared to negotiate prices for fetal tissue and discuss under-the-table procedures for obtaining it.

Merritt was involved in the undercover operation as one of the key figures behind the release of the footage alongside Daleiden.

“Sandra Merritt did nothing wrong,” Merritt’s attorneys at the Christian law firm Liberty Counsel said in a statement Monday. “She did the right thing by exposing the depravity of the abortion industry.”

According to a 2015 Guardian report, Planned Parenthood stopped accepting reimbursements for its fetal tissue donation program following state and federal probes after Daleiden’s undercover videos.

TRUMP’S ‘TWO SEXES’ EXECUTIVE ORDER COMES ON HEELS OF SCOTUS ACCEPTING ANOTHER CHALLENGE TO LGBT AGENDA

North Dakota’s previous restrictions on abortion were challenged in court by what was formerly state’s only abortion clinic. Pictured is an abortion clinic in Idaho. (Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday, “to end the use of federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion,” reinforcing the Hyde Amendment. As a result, organizations like Planned Parenthood, which provide abortion services, may face funding challenges depending on how the organization receives its funds for elective abortions.

According to a blog post by the organization’s political action fund, “60% of Planned Parenthood patients rely on public health programs like Medicaid and Title X.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Harris and Planned Parenthood for comment.

Jamie Joseph is a writer who covers politics. She leads Fox News Digital coverage of the Senate.

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Denver, CO

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5 minutes ago

March 2, 2026

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Seattle, WA

MLB Mock Trade: Seattle Mariners Deal Luis Castillo to Atlanta Braves

Published

11 minutes ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

MLB Mock Trade: Seattle Mariners Deal Luis Castillo to Atlanta Braves

The Seattle Mariners have had a busy offseason as they try to improve their roster and break through to the World Series for the first time in franchise history. Seattle has been active in free agency and on the trade market. One of their final roster questions is who will serve as the backup catcher behind Cal Raleigh. The Mariners could make one more move before the start of the season to address this need, potentially through a trade with the Atlanta Braves.

The Atlanta Braves are dealing with some serious injuries to their starting rotation this offseason. After an impressive 2025 campaign, Spencer Schwellenbach has been shut down because of bone spurs. Breakout candidate Hurston Waldrep was also shut down during Spring Training with elbow inflammation. Both pitchers underwent surgery in February, leaving two open spots in Atlanta’s rotation. Let’s break down a mock trade centered on Luis Castillo that could help fill those holes for the Braves.

Atlanta Braves – Seattle Mariners Mock Trade

Atlanta Braves receive SP Luis Castillo

Seattle Mariners receive C Sean Murphy, SP Owen Murphy

In this mock trade, the Braves acquire All-Star starter Luis Castillo. In exchange, the Mariners receive former All-Star catcher Sean Murphy and a young pitching prospect in Owen Murphy.

Fantasy Baseball Outlook

Luis Castillo would slot into the Atlanta Braves’ starting rotation behind Chris Sale and Spencer Strider. He has been very effective for the Mariners since they acquired him from the Reds at the trade deadline four seasons ago. In 2025, Castillo went 11–8 in 32 games with a 3.54 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and 162 strikeouts. His fantasy value would likely dip if he left Seattle’s pitcher-friendly ballpark. Still, he has proven himself as a reliable, effective starter through consistent performance, and he would play a key role for Atlanta.

With the Mariners, Sean Murphy would serve as the backup catcher behind Cal Raleigh. He would likely see a drop in playing time in Seattle, but this move could also give the Mariners more opportunities to use Raleigh at DH. With the fifth spot open in the Seattle rotation, Emerson Hancock and Cooper Criswell would be viable, experienced options. Alternatively, Kade Anderson and Ryan Sloan are elite prospects who have had strong Spring Trainings and could break camp on Opening Day. The young pitching prospect Owen Murphy would also join a talented farm system and provide a future option for the rotation.

San Diego Zoo Safari Park’s Elephant Valley: Get closer to elephants

Published

17 minutes ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

San Diego Zoo Safari Park’s Elephant Valley: Get closer to elephants

Todd Martens
| Los Angeles Times

San Diego — Before we see elephants at Elephant Valley in the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, we come face to face with destruction, only the wreckage is beautiful. A long, winding path takes guests around and under felled trees. Aged gray tree hunks form arches, for instance, over bridges that tower over clay-colored paths with hoof prints.

The design is meant to reorient us, to take us on a trail walked not by humans but traversed and carved by elephants, a creature still misunderstood, vilified and hunted for its cataclysmic-like ability to reshape land, and sometimes communities.

“It starts,” says Kristi Burtis, vice president of wildlife care for the Safari Park, “by telling the story that elephants are ecosystem engineers.”

Elephant Valley will open March 5 as the newest experience at the Escondido park, its aim to bring guests closer than ever to the zoo’s eight elephants, which range in age from 7 to 36, while more heavily focusing on conservation. The centerpiece of the 13-acre-plus parkland is a curved bridge overlooking a savanna, allowing elephants to walk under guests. But there are also nooks such as a cave that, while not previewed at a recent media event, will allow visitors to view elephants on their level.

In a shift from, say, the Safari Park’s popular tram tour, there are no fences and visible enclosures. Captive elephants remain a sometimes controversial topic, and the zoo’s herd is a mix of rescues and births, but the goal was to create a space where humans are at once removed and don’t impede on the relative free-roaming ability of the animals by keeping guests largely elevated. As an example of just how close people can get to the herd, there was a moment of levity at the event when one of the elephants began flinging what was believed to be a mixture of dirt and feces up onto the bridge.

“Our guests are going to be able to see the hairs on an elephant,” Burtis says. “They can see their eyes. They can see the eyelashes. They can see how muscular their trunks are. It’s really going to be a different experience.”

Elephant Valley, complete with a multistory lodge with open-air restaurants and bars, boasts a natural design that isn’t influenced by the elephant’s African home so much as it is in conversation with it. The goal isn’t to displace us, but to import communal artistry — Kenyan wood and beadwork can be found in the pathways, resting spaces and more — as a show of admiration rather than imitation.

“We’re not going to pretend that we’re taking people to Africa,” says Fri Forjindam, now a creative executive with Universal’s theme parks but previously a lead designer on Elephant Valley via her role as a chief development officer at Mycotoo, a Pasadena-based experiential design firm.

“That is a slippery slope of theming that can go wrong really fast,” she adds. “How do we recognize where we are right now, which is near San Diego? How do we populate this plane with plants that are indigenous to the region? The story of coexistence is important. We’re not extracting from Africa, we’re learning. We’re not extracting from elephants, we’re sharing information.”

But designing a space that is elephant-first yet also built for humans presented multiple challenges, especially when the collaborating teams were aiming to construct multiple narratives around the animals. Since meetings about Elephant Valley began around 2019, the staff worked to touch on themes related to migration and conservation. And there was also a desire to personalize the elephants.

“Where can we also highlight each of the elephants by name, so they aren’t just this huge herd of random gray creatures?” Forjindam says. “You see that in the lodge.”

That lodge, the Mkutano House — a phrase that means “gathering” in Swahili — should provide opportunities for guests to linger, although zoo representatives say reservations are recommended for those who wish to dine in the space (there will also be a walk-up, to-go window). Menus have yet to be released, but the ground floor of the structure, boasting hut-like roofing designed to blend into the environment, features close views of the elephant grazing pool as well as an indoor space with a centerpiece tree beneath constellation-like lighting to mimic sunrises and sunsets.

Throughout there are animal wood carvings and beadwork, the latter often hung from sculptures made of tree branches. The ceiling, outfitted with colorful, cloth tapestries designed to move with the wind, aims to create less friction between indoor and outdoor environments.

There are, of course, research and educational goals of the space as well. The Safari Park works, for instance, with the Northern Rangelands Trust and Loisaba Conservancy in Kenya, with an emphasis on studying human-elephant conflict and finding no-kill resolutions. Nonprofits and conservation groups estimate that there are today around 415,000 elephants in Africa, and the African savanna elephant is listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Studies of the zoo’s young elephants is shared with the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary in the hopes of delivering care to elephant youth to prevent orphanage. Additionally, the Safari Park has done extensive examination into the endotheliotropic herpes virus. “The data that we collect from elephants here, you can’t simply get from elephants in the wild,” Burtis says.

One of the two entrances to Elephant Valley is outfitted with bee boxes; bees are known to be a natural elephant deterrent and can help in preventing the animals from disrupting crops or communities. To encourage more natural behavior, the plane is outfitted with timed feeders in an attempt to encourage movement throughout the acreage and establish a level of real-life unpredictability in hunting for resources. Water areas have been redesigned with ramps and steps to make it easier for the elephants to navigate.

With Elephant Valley, Forjindam says the goal was to allow visitors to “observe safely in luxury — whatever that is — but not from a position of power, more as a cohabitor of the Earth, with as much natural elements as possible. It’s not to impose dominance. Ultimately, it needed to feel natural. It couldn’t feel like a man-made structure, which is an antiquated approach to any sort of safari experience where animals are the product, a prize. In this experience, this is the elephant’s home.”

And the resulting feel of Elephant Valley is that we, the paying customers, are simply their house guests.

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