Planned Parenthood was cleared of any misconduct, Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson said. | Getty Texas grand jury indicts activists behind Planned Parenthood videos

A grand jury in Texas on Monday indicted two anti-abortion activists behind the undercover Planned Parenthood videos -- and cleared Planned Parenthood of any wrongdoing.

The surprise indictment came after a district attorney investigated Planned Parenthood's fetal tissue program. The Center for Medical Progress, an anti-abortion group, released graphic videos all summer purportedly showing Planned Parenthood staff seeking to profit off of the sale of fetal tissue — an accusation the group vigorously denied.


But her two month investigation cleared Planned Parenthood of any misconduct and turned to the makers of the videos. "We were called upon to investigate allegations of criminal conduct by Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast," said Devon Anderson, Harris County’s district attorney. "As I stated at the outset of this investigation, we must go where the evidence leads us.”

David Daleiden, who founded the Center for Medical progress, and Sandra Merritt, a center employee, were indicted on felony charges of tampering with a governmental record. Daleiden was also indicted on a misdemeanor count related to the purchase of human organs.

Daleiden on Monday said that he used the same techniques as investigative journalists -- and added that if he had bought tissue, someone must have sold it.

"We respect the processes of the Harris County District Attorney, and note that buying fetal tissue requires a seller as well," he said in a statement. "Planned Parenthood still cannot deny the admissions from their leadership about fetal organ sales captured on video for all the world to see."

He had told POLITICO in an interview last Wednesday that he was “not really” worried about the several investigations into his activities. "There’s really nothing there,” Daleiden said.

His videos set off a furor in Congress and state governments. Republicans sought to cut off taxpayer funds for Planned Parenthood as abortion foes tried to depict the organization as "harvesting" or "trafficking" in body parts. Planned Parenthood has consistently denied any wrongdoing, saying it had a small, voluntary and legal program for donating tissue for biomedical research -- which it halted as the controversy boiled.

Eric Ferrero, Planned Parenthood's vice president of communications, said the grand jury's decision is vindication.

"These people broke the law to spread malicious lies about Planned Parenthood in order to advance their extreme anti-abortion political agenda," he said in a statement. "As the dust settles and the truth comes out, it's become totally clear that the only people who engaged in wrongdoing are the criminals behind this fraud, and we're glad they're being held accountable."

Daleiden, who has been sued by the National Abortion Federation and Planned Parenthood, has maintained that he followed all laws in his investigation, which he has likened to investigative journalism protected by the First Amendment.

“The allegations from Planned Parenthood and their people are really a lot of wild speculations about how CMP was formed and how we operate." he said in the interview last week. "It is really based on their own ignorance and even some of their own fear-based projections about who I am and where I came from.”

He indicated then that he thought an announced investigation in California appeared to be “coming to a close” and “we haven’t heard a peep out of the Justice Department at the federal level.”

National Abortion Federation and Planned Parenthood alleged that Daleiden used fake IDs and signed confidentiality agreements that he did not follow. He posed as representing a bio-tissue procurement firm as he made videos.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday insisted that probes into Planned Parenthood were ongoing. "Nothing about today's announcement in Harris County impacts the state's ongoing investigation," he said in a statement. "The State of Texas will continue to protect life, and I will continue to support legislation prohibiting the sale or transfer of fetal tissue."

The state attorney general also indicated that the investigation into Planned Parenthood would continue.

Planned Parenthood noted that it had been investigated by several states over the fetal tissue controversy- and none had found any wrongdoing.

