The California attorney general filed a motion for gag order late Tuesday in an attempt to prevent citizen journalist and pro-life activist David Daleiden and his legal team from publicly discussing the witnesses who illegally trafficked aborted baby body parts. Judge Christopher Hite of San Francisco Superior Court, who is presiding over the ongoing preliminary criminal hearings, denied the gag order Wednesday.

The motion for gag order is the latest attempt by state officials in California to hide and cover up details about the illegal activity of Planned Parenthood and the human tissue procurement company StemExpress. The attorney general’s requested gag order would have muzzled the defense from discussing the testimonies given over the last five days of public hearings with the media, including a list of horrific admissions from abortionists, Planned Parenthood employees, and the CEO of StemExpress.

The attorney general’s motion for gag order alleged that Daleiden’s appearance on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” last Friday was somehow linked to unconfirmed claims that one of the witnesses, a former director for Planned Parenthood, received threats last Thursday night.

Daleiden’s defense team filed an opposition to the gag order request arguing that not only was it “unconstitutionally vague and overbroad,” but that defense strategies often invoke the court of public opinion and public advocacy. They said the attorney general was trying to interfere in that process.

“Everything that Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation have been trying to do is an attempt to shut down and silence anyone who knows about their scheme to sell baby parts and organs for profit,” said Daleiden’s lead counsel Peter Breen. “Their heinous practices have involved exterminating babies born alive and manipulating abortion techniques without informing the women they’ve victimized. These bad players – the abortion industry movers and shakers – are doing terrible things for money.”