House Republicans professed to be shocked , thoroughly shocked by the heavily edited footage released by a sketchy anti-abortion group intended to suggest Planned Parenthood was "selling" fetal organs. (They're not, but they will donate tissue to medical researchers with a woman's permission and if the researchers reimburse them for the very minor expenses involved—a perfectly standard and commonplace medical practice.)

Now, however, it turns out that the anti-abortion group or their intermediaries had given the tape to at least two House Republicans two weeks ago—and those Republicans didn't find it fit to mention that they have apparently been orchestrating their conspicuous public outrage with the video's producers. One of those House Republicans, Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), was so flummoxed when asked to explain this discrepancy that he apparently tried to Jedi himself out of the situation.



[Asked] why he and others waited until this week to take action, Murphy struggled for an answer before abruptly ending the interview with CQ Roll Call, saying he should not be quoted and remarking, “This interview didn’t happen.” Here’s an excerpt from CQ Roll Call’s hallway chat with Murphy: CQ Roll Call: “So, what I wondered was, what’s happened in those few weeks? Why is it coming out now and not earlier?” *Murphy:" “Um, I don’t know why. All I know is I saw it and he said he was going to post it eventually, so that’s all I know.”

Smooth, Rep. Murphy. Very smooth. I don't think anybody noticed.