Judicial Watch Sues for Autopsy of Capitol
Police Officer Brian Sicknick
We’re not going to get the full truth of events at the Capitol on
January 6 from politicians or a dishonest media — no surprise there. So
were going after it on our own.
We filed a District of Columbia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit
in the District of Columbia Superior Court against the District of Columbia
for the autopsy of Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick and related
records ( Judicial
Watch v. District of Columbia (Case Number 2021 CA 000875
B)).
We sued after the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) of the
District of Columbia denied our February 16, 2021, FOIA request for:
All records, including but not limited to autopsy reports, toxicology
reports, notes, photographs, and OCME officials’ electronic
communications, related to the death on Jan. 6, 2021 of Capitol Police
Officer Brian Sicknick and its related investigation.
Initial reports from the New York Times and other media outlets about the
cause of Officer Sicknick’s death have subsequently been corrected
and revised.
The unusual and unlawful secrecy about Officer Sicknick’s death
investigation undermines public confidence in the fair administration of
justice.
We also recently filed lawsuits for U.S. Capitol Police emails and
video related
to the riot and for Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s communications
with the Pentagon in the days after the January 6th incident.
It will be particularly interesting to see if any politicians such as Nancy
Pelosi or other outside officials communicated with the medical
examiner’s office about Officer Sicknick.
Judicial Watch Sues for NY, PA COVID Nursing Homes
Policies
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is under fire for his policies that may have
resulted in countless preventable nursing home Covid-19 deaths. But other
states, such as Pennsylvania, had similar policies that needlessly
increased risk for the nursing home residents. Again, not trusting the
corrupted media or government to give us the full picture of this scandal,
Judicial Watch went to court for answers.
We sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for
records about New York and Pennsylvania nursing home policies and
procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We filed the FOIA suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) failed to
respond to a December 7, 2020, FOIA request ( Judicial
Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Health of Human
Services (No. 1:21-cv-00612)) for:
Communications, including emails and text
messages, between Division of Nursing Homes Director Evan Shulman and
Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine regarding policies and
procedures for nursing facilities during COVID-19. The timeframe of this
request is February 18, 2020 to June 1, 2020.
Communications, including emails and text
messages, between Quality and Safety Oversight Group Director David
Wrightand Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine regarding
policies and procedures for nursing facilities during COVID-19. The
timeframe of this request is February 18, 2020 to June 1, 2020.
Communications, including emails and text
messages, between Division of Nursing Homes Director Evan Shulman and
Pennsylvania Deputy for Quality Assurance Susan Coble regarding policies
and procedures for nursing facilities during COVID-19. The timeframe of
this request is February 18, 2020 to June 1, 2020.
Communications, including emails and text
messages, between Quality and Safety Oversight Group Director David Wright
and Pennsylvania Deputy for Quality Assurance Susan Coble regarding
policies and procedures for nursing facilities during COVID-19. The
timeframe of this request is February 18, 2020 to June 1, 2020.
Communications, including emails and text
messages, between Division of Nursing Homes Director Evan Shulman and New
York Department of Health Commissioner Howard Zucker regarding policies and
procedures for nursing facilities during COVID-19. The timeframe of this
request is February 18, 2020 to June 1, 2020.
Communications, including emails and text
messages, between Qualityand Safety Oversight Group Director David Wright
and New York Department of Health Executive Deputy Commissioner Sally
Dreslin regarding policies and procedures for nursing facilities during
COVID-19. The timeframe of this request is February 18, 2020 to June 1,
2020.
The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn
are investigating New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s handling of that state’s
nursing homes during the pandemic. As of March 3, 2021, 15,430 nursing home
and other long-term care residents in the state have died from
COVID-19, according
to the New York Long Term Care Community Coalition.
In February, Cuomo’s top aide reportedly admitted that
New York withheld information about the coronavirus death toll in the
state’s nursing homes out of fear that the true numbers would “be used
against us” by federal government.
In Pennsylvania, as of February 25, at least 12,000 of the nearly 24,000
deaths attributed to coronavirus in that state reportedly occurred
in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Republicans in the state
legislature have renewed calls for an investigation into how Gov. Tom
Wolf’s administration has dealt with these facilities, specifically the
state’s policy requiring that the facilities accept COVID-positive
patients.
According to a report by
Spotlight PA, coronavirus reports from the Pennsylvania Department of
Health were “consistently missing data” on nursing homes. The state’s
health department was headed during most of the pandemic by Dr. Rachel
Levine, who has been nominated for a top position in HHS, believe it or
not, in the Biden administration.
Thousands of nursing home residents in New York and Pennsylvania may have
died thanks to those states’ COVID-19 mandates. The public, particularly
those who lost loved ones due to the policies of the Cuomo and Wolf
administrations, have a right to know the full truth about this public
health scandal.
Court Slams Potentially Illicit Sales of Parts of Aborted
Fetuses
In May 2019 we sued the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) documents about the purchase and use of
human fetal tissue obtained from abortion clinics that was used by FDA
researchers in “humanized mice” testing.
Then in February 2020 we uncovered records from
NIH showing that the agency paid thousands of dollars to California-based
Advanced Biosciences Resources (ABR) to purchase organs from aborted human
fetuses to create “ humanized
mice” for HIV research.
In June 2020, we uncovered records from
the FDA showing that, between 2012 and 2018, the FDA entered into eight
contracts worth $96,370 with ABR to acquire “fresh and never frozen”
tissue from first and second trimester aborted fetuses for use in
creating “humanized mice” for ongoing research.
We can now report a positive development in this case, which, in many ways,
has been a journey into a heart of darkness. A federal court ordered HHS
to release additional information about its purchases of organs harvested
from aborted human fetuses.
The Court also found “there is reason to question” whether the
transactions violate federal law barring the sale of fetal organs.
Documents previously uncovered in this lawsuit show that the federal
government demanded the purchased fetal organs be “fresh and never
frozen.”
Both the FDA and NIH purchased the organs from ABR to create “ humanized
mice” for use in HIV research. ABR partners with Planned Parenthood
and other abortion providers to dismember fetuses and sell their parts for
research. The decision notes
that ABR:
sold second-trimester livers and thymi for
hundreds of dollars apiece. The same for brains, eyes, and lungs. After
tacking on fees for services like shipping and cleaning, ABR could collect
over $2,000 on a single fetus it purchased from Planned Parenthood for $60.
The federal government participated in this potentially illicit trade for
years.
The court raised concern about whether these transactions are legal:
Happily for the Government (and ABR), this
means that the Court need not reach Judicial Watch’s argument that the
Government cannot withhold the information at issue because ABR engaged in
criminal conduct. Recall that it is illegal to transfer “any human fetal
tissue for valuable consideration. 42 U.S.C. § 289g-2(a). Judicial Watch
contends that the invoices disclosed here show that the Government paid
“valuable consideration” to ABR and so the Government cannot keep the
withheld information confidential.
The court found it “dubious” that a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
exception invoked by the government could be used to “shield illegal
business practices under the guise of ‘confidential business
information’” and declared that “[t]here is reason to question the
lawfulness of the transaction between the Government and ABR.”
In ruling in our favor, U.S. District Court Judge Trevor N.
McFadden ordered HHS
to disclose:
Any currently withheld names and addresses
of ABR’s contract laboratories
Any redacted unit pricing information for
fetal tissue, shipping, or other fees and services relating to the
2013-2015 years that can found in the fee schedules appended to the U.S.
Senate Judiciary Committee report entitled “Human Fetal Tissue Research:
Context and Controversy”
Any redacted per-specimen pricing
information for the second-trimester fetal tissue relative to the 2016-2018
years
All contracts and related documentation
between FDA and ABR for the provision of human fetal tissue to be used in
humanized mice research.
All records reflecting the disbursement of
funds to ABR for the provision of human fetal tissue to be used in
humanized mice research.
All guidelines and procedural documents
provided to ABR by FDA relating to the acquisition and extraction of human
fetal tissue for its provision to the FDA for humanized mice
research.
All communications between FDA officials
and employees and representatives of ABR related to the provision by ABR to
the FDA of human fetal tissue for the purpose of humanized mice
research.
This court victory will shed additional light on the federal government’s
barbaric practice of purchasing organs of aborted human beings. The
American people deserve to know how their tax dollars are being spent on
this grotesque and potentially illegal activity.
U.S. Lifts Yemeni Militant Group’s Terrorist
Designation
The Biden administration quickly undid a major Trump anti-terror initiative
in Yemen and is set to resume sending militants there with millions of U.S.
taxpayer dollars. Our Corruption Chronicles blog reports
the details.
Days after a “humanitarian situation” compelled the Biden
administration to revoke the terrorist designation of a Yemen-based
militant group, the U.S. is sending the Islamic nation $191
million in assistance. Yemen is a hotbed of terrorism that serves
as the headquarters of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The
international community strongly opposed the Trump administration’s
classification of another Yemeni radical faction, Ansarallah, as a
specially designated global terrorist entity asserting that it would come
with repercussions
for humanitarian operations. In a Federal Register bulletin announcing
the move the State Department writes that Ansarallah, also known as
Partisans of God, has committed or has attempted to commit, or poses a
significant risk of committing, or has participated in training to commit,
acts of terrorism that threaten the security of U.S. nationals or the
national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States.
The Biden administration did not waste much time caving into the demands of
leftist global entities to reverse the designation. Leading the pack was
the famously corrupt United Nations, which joined forces with independent
humanitarian organizations to demand Ansarallah be removed from the
government’s terrorist list. UN officials expressed “ deep
concern about the adverse humanitarian impact,” and the director
of a nonprofit called it a “death sentence.” In mid-February Secretary
of State Anthony J. Blinken obliged, explaining that the decision
to revoke Ansarallah’s terrorist designation is a recognition of
the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen. “We have listened to warnings
from the United Nations, humanitarian groups, and bipartisan members of
Congress, among others, that the designations could have a devastating
impact on Yemenis’ access to basic commodities like food and fuel,”
according to State Department announcement.
“The revocations are intended to ensure that relevant U.S. policies do
not impede assistance to those already suffering what has been called the
world’s worst humanitarian crisis. By focusing on alleviating the
humanitarian situation in Yemen, we hope the Yemeni parties can also focus
on engaging in dialogue.”
It is worth noting that shortly after Blinken’s decision the U.S.
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned two
key militants of the Iranian-backed Ansarallah, which is sometimes referred
to as the Houthis. The agency identifies them as Mansur Al-Sa’adi and
Ahmad ‘Ali Ahsan al-Hamzi and claims they are responsible for
orchestrating attacks by Houthi forces impacting Yemeni civilians,
bordering nations, and commercial vessels in international waters. “These
actions, which were done to advance the Iranian regime’s destabilizing
agenda, have fueled the Yemeni conflict, displacing more than one million
people and pushing Yemen to the brink of famine,” the OFAC writes in
a press
release. The document proceeds to explain that the Houthis have waged a
bloody war against the internationally recognized Yemeni government using
ballistic missiles, explosives, naval mines, and unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAVs) to attack bases, population centers, infrastructure, and nearby
commercial shipping. “The Iranian regime has intensified this conflict by
providing direct financial and materiel assistance to the Houthis,
including small arms, missiles, explosives, and UAVs,” according to the
U.S. Treasury.
The conflicting actions of two American government agencies may seem
confusing to some, though Secretary of State Blinken does acknowledge
Ansarallah’s terrorist traits and that its leaders threaten Yemen’s
peace, security, and stability. In the announcement quashing
the terrorist designation, Blinken says this: “The United States remains
clear-eyed about Ansarallah’s malign actions, and aggression, including
taking control of large areas of Yemen by force, attacking U.S. partners in
the Gulf, kidnapping and torturing citizens of the United States and many
of our allies, diverting humanitarian aid, brutally repressing Yemenis in
areas they control, and the deadly attack on December 30, 2020 in Aden
against the cabinet of the legitimate government of Yemen.”
The Secretary of State promises to “closely monitor” the terrorist
organization’s activities and actively identify additional targets for
designation, especially those responsible for explosive boat attacks
against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and missile attacks into Saudi
Arabia. Blinken assures the U.S. is committed to helping its partners
defend themselves against threats arising from Yemen. In the meantime,
American taxpayer dollars keep pouring into the country. The latest
allotment of $191 million, announced this month, comes on the heels of a
$160 million allocation at the end of 2020 to “alleviate the suffering of
the people of Yemen.”
Until next week,
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