A group of 34 senators have signed Rand Paul's letter addressed to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) calling for an investigation of all fetal tissue research funded by the agency.
I wouldn't necessarily say the department shouldn't conduct an audit of research grants, but Rand Paul and his cohorts are calling for this investigation under false pretense.
Thirty-four Republican senators signed on to the 2016 GOP presidential candidate’s letter to HSS Inspector General Daniel Levinson on Tuesday, writing that the recent allegations that Planned Parenthood mishandled aborted fetal tissue raises "serious concerns about potential violations of federal law prohibiting the transfer of fetal tissue for valuable consideration."
"The videos not only raise questions about Planned Parenthood’s compliance with applicable laws and regulations, but also highlight potentially significant problems with HHS’s oversight of practices in this market in general," they added.
The fraudulent videos which were edited for nearly a year highlight potential problems, Rand says. His letter vaguely implies that HHS may be inadvertently funding a criminal enterprise involving the sale of fetus tissue; a fantasy not corroborated by a single investigation thus far.
I expected congressional Republicans would seek to widen this manufactured scandal and this may be an indication that they intend to drag HSS into the mud.
If the department chooses not to launch an investigation prompted by deceptively edited videos, Republicans will certainly begin asking questions about that, too. It's clearly a conspiracy.