Daleiden Admits to Deceptively Editing Videos For Immediate Release: Oct. 21, 2015 Share This Twitter Facebook Tumblr

Washington, DC -- David Daleiden got caught in his own lies and admitted what we already know -- that he and others have heavily edited videos intended to attack Planned Parenthood. In an interview on Anderson Cooper 360, Daleiden not only conceded to deceptively editing the videos, but also acknowledged that video and images he used have nothing to do with Planned Parenthood.

Quote from Eric Ferrero, Vice President for Communications, Planned Parenthood Federation of America:

“It turns out that leading experts aren't the only people saying these videos are so heavily edited that they don't reflect actual events -- David Daleiden himself now admits it. Every single video these extremists have released distorts actual events, and this entire smear campaign is a fraud. Even these heavily edited videos don't show wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood. It's become totally clear that these videos are really part of a political agenda to ban abortion in this country."

At one point in the interview, the CNN reporter addressed Daleiden’s editing directly saying, “The problem people are having is that this is not an aborted child and this is not the baby that Holly is talking about and that seems very, that does seem very deceptive to me.”

Daleiden tried to pass off blame for his deception on the media saying, “I don't see the deception and frankly, I think it's kind of, I think it's kind of a controversy drummed up by the media.”

After acknowledging that he had no idea where part of his video came from originally, Daleiden was pressed by the CNN reporter: “You don’t know where the baby was born. You don’t know what date the baby was born. You don’t know the particular clinic the baby was born. Yet this whole video production is talking about Planned Parenthood selling body parts and abortions.” Daleiden responded, “Right, right.”

Nothing about Daleiden and his organization, the Center for Medical Progress, has been honest. He’s used a false identity, created a fake biomedical firm, deceptively edited videos to attack Planned Parenthood, and then hired a fake forensic practice to analyze those videos. Yet, there is still no evidence that Planned Parenthood has done anything wrong.

BACKGROUND: Daleiden’s Tap Dance Around the Truth

FACT: Despite Numerous Requests, Anti-Abortion Activists Have Not Yet Released Unedited Source Footage of Their Deceptively Edited Videos Attacking Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood Federation of America: Planned Parenthood Calls on Anti-Abortion Activists to Release All Video Footage to Authorities Immediately

Representative Diana DeGette : DeGette Calls for Anti-Choice Activists to Release Full, Unedited Tapes

Media Matters : Media Matters Calls On Center For Medical Progress To Release Full, Unedited Source Footage Of Anti-Planned Parenthood Smear Videos

FACT: An independent forensic examination of the videos released by CMP found that they do not present a complete or accurate record of the events they purport to depict.

“Their review did conclude that CMP edited content out of the alleged ‘full footage’ videos, and heavily edited the short videos so as to misrepresent statements made by Planned Parenthood representative.”

Videos contain “edited conversations where some spoken words are eliminated and some spoken words are added out of context.”

"Mr. Fredericks identifies ‘loss of significant time and image continuity’ attributable to post-production edits.”

“All four videos also contained intentional edits that removed content from the middle of the videos.”

FACT: Forensic experts have found that “full footage” videos and transcripts released by CMP are also heavily edited.

Forensic experts have found that “full footage” videos and transcripts released by CMP are also heavily edited:

“Professional analysis revealed that the full footage videos contained numerous intentional post-production edits.”

Experts identify numerous “cuts, skips, missing tape, and changes in camera angle” throughout the “full footage” videos.

“Analysis reveals that approximately 30 minutes of the meeting are missing from the video shortly after the eighth minute of recording. The clock superimposed on the video skips from 07:46:47 to 08:15:15 from one frame to the next.”

“The manipulation of the videos does mean they have no evidentiary value in a legal context and cannot be relied upon for any official inquiries…”

New York Times : Undercover Planned Parenthood Videos Were Altered, Analysis Finds “... ‘the manipulation of the videos does mean they have no evidentiary value in a legal context and cannot be relied upon for any official inquiries’ unless C.M.P. provides investigators with its original material, and that material is independently authenticated as unaltered.”

NY Daily News : Undercover Planned Parenthood videos were altered by abortion opponents: analysis “Statements were spliced together at least 42 times to appear like seamless conversations, the analysis found. Two of the videos were each missing 30-minute chunks of footage… CMP's ‘undisclosed edits and cuts distort the meaning of the encounters the videos purport to document,’ the analysis said.”

MSNBC : Planned Parenthood: Even ‘full’ videos were altered “The research firm also found that the transcripts provided by the Center for Medical Progress are inaccurate as judged against a transcript made by an independent service. ‘All four transcripts by CMP contain substantive omissions, and the Texas transcript appears to be grossly edited,’ the Fusion GPS report says.”

Reuters : Planned Parenthood report says fetal tissue videos were distorted " ‘Any time someone has made undisclosed changes to an audio or video file, that renders the file unreliable,’ lead investigator and former Wall Street Journal investigative reporter Glenn Simpson said during a media conference call.”

Vox : I thought I saw all the Planned Parenthood sting footage. Turns out the tapes were edited. “The inaccurate transcript and the jumping timestamps make a pretty compelling case that I didn't get the full picture. CMP can't just wave away the missing footage as boring bathroom breaks; it's impossible to know what might be missing without complete video. If the group wants to present these as the full videos behind the sting operation, then it needs to actually provide the complete footage — however dull or boring those other parts might be.”

FACT: Representative Franks Admitted the House Judiciary Committee Had Neither Seen Nor Asked for Full, Unedited Source Footage From the Center for Medical Progress

USA Today : “Rep. David Cicilline, D-R.I., also got Franks to concede that the committee's GOP majority has not seen the full unedited videos and had not asked CMP to provide them.”

Yahoo : “A committee member admitted that the Committee has neither seen nor asked for the unedited CMP videos. Rep. David Cicilline (D-RI) asked Rep. Franks repeatedly if the committee is in the possession of the unedited version of the CMP tapes...When Cicilline pointed out that those tapes have been confirmed to be edited — including the versions marked by the organization as unedited — and asked again if the committee had the original source footage from the CMP, Franks replied, ‘The answer is, no, we do not…’”

The Nation : “Later, Franks was pressed on whether he’d actually seen full, unedited footage from CMP. After erroneously claiming that CMP had made it available online, Franks admitted that neither he nor anyone else from the GOP majority had seen the footage in its complete form. He also confirmed that committee Republicans haven’t asked for it.”

FACT: Videos Released By Anti-Abortion Activists Calling Themselves the Center for Medical Progress Have Been Widely Discredited

As a result of these and other deceptions, the videos have been widely discredited and are increasingly being denounced as unreliable.

San Jose Mercury News : “The videos are grossly misleading and politically irresponsible.”

Los Angeles Times : “Leaving aside the potential violation of California law, which forbids recording a person without consent, the narrative pushed by the anti-abortion activists is a total crock.”

Houston Chronicle : “The footage initially was released in an edited form that made it look like Nucatola was talking about selling fetal organs, which is illegal. The full video indicates that the subject likely was legal organ donation, and the discussed costs were to perform the preservation."

The Seattle Times : “The videos make it appear that compassionate doctors are violating the law. In actuality, providers in these videos spoke at length following strict ethical guidelines and about not making a profit from any donations. In fact, it appears the only lawbreakers are the group who orchestrated elaborate lies in an attempt to discredit doctors who care about the health and well-being of women.”

Washington Post : “That truths were distorted to paint an inaccurate and unfair picture of a health organization that provides valuable services to women — as well as to demonize research that leads to important medical advances — doesn’t matter to antiabortion activists. Or, sadly, to the politicians who pander to them.”

New York Times : “The Center for Medical Progress video campaign is a dishonest attempt to make legal, voluntary and potentially lifesaving tissue donations appear nefarious and illegal. Lawmakers responding by promoting their own anti-choice agenda are rewarding deception and putting women’s health and their constitutionally protected rights at risk.”

Central Maine : “Nobody is seen “=’selling’ tissue. Nobody is seen ‘profiting’ from abortion. Nobody is seen breaking the law or even behaving unethically, except maybe for the off-screen “actors“ who are trying to coax their target into crossing a line.”

NJ Star-Ledger : “So the real scandal here is a Republican effort to use this heavily-edited video as an excuse to pull funding for women's health care, out of opposition to abortion.”

Chicago Sun-Times : “As a medical ethicist and lawyer, the headlines concerned me. But after scrutinizing hours of video, it appears Planned Parenthood doctors are complying with federal law allowing ‘reasonable payments’ for collection of fetal tissue. As the organization’s senior director of medical services explains in the unedited version of her videotaped meeting with people posing as members of the research community, abortion clinics ‘want to offer this service because patients ask about it. … just as much as the patients, the providers absolutely want to help [medical research].’”

Michigan Public Radio : “Planned Parenthood has been saving women and families from poverty and desperation for 99 years. Now, its enemies are ‘swift boating’ it; presenting lies and distortions as fact.”

Austin Chronicle : “...much context has been left out of the anti-choice response. For one, consider the source: Texas conservatives and other GOPers are eating up dubious claims from the Center For Medical Progress – an ardently anti-choice group associated with Live Action, known to release heavily edited videos that have historically targeted Planned Parenthood. And one of CMP’s founders (Troy Newman) heads Operation Rescue, a group that advocated harassing abortion clinic workers and ran a decades-long campaign against murdered abortion doctor Dr. George Tiller.”

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Planned Parenthood is the nation's leading provider and advocate of high-quality, affordable health care for women, men, and young people, as well as the nation's largest provider of sex education. With approximately 700 health centers across the country, Planned Parenthood organizations serve all patients with care and compassion, with respect and without judgment. Through health centers, programs in schools and communities, and online resources, Planned Parenthood is a trusted source of reliable health information that allows people to make informed health decisions. We do all this because we care passionately about helping people lead healthier lives.