Joe Biden has weaponized the federal government. And they’re going after Americans.
Now the FBI is implicated in a terrifying kidnapping scandal.
Paul Vaughn, a Christian father of 11 and pro-life advocate, recounted a harrowing tale before Congress on Wednesday, detailing the armed FBI raid on his Tennessee home.
The Biden administration had charged him under the FACE Act for participating in a peaceful pro-life protest, turning a Clinton-era law meant to protect both abortion facilities and churches into a weapon against conservative activists.
Speaking to the House Judiciary Committee on the Constitution and Limited Government, Vaughn described the shocking events of October 5, 2022.
Federal agents stormed his Centerville home, allegedly over a peaceful demonstration at the Carafem abortion facility in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, back in March 2021.
The protest, marked by prayers and Christian hymns, led to Vaughn being charged with violating the FACE Act and conspiracy against rights—a charge originally designed to combat Ku Klux Klan violence.
“My house was assaulted, my wife and children were terrorized, and I was kidnapped at gunpoint by four armed men,” Vaughn told lawmakers.
“I had just sent three of my children to the car so I could take them to school when the house began to shake from a loud banging near the front door. I heard men shouting from my front porch, ‘Open up! FBI!’”
He recounted seeing two unmarked SUVs with flashing lights and armed agents at his doorstep.
“I opened the curtains on my front door to find three men with guns trained on the front door,” Vaughn said, noting that the agents failed to identify themselves or present a warrant.
Simultaneously, three of Vaughn’s children—ages 12, 14, and 18—were detained by another armed agent near the woods on the edge of their property.
“Make no mistake: this was an armed conflict and I was unarmed. Lethal force was abused to abridge my God-given and constitutionally secured rights,” he said.
Vaughn criticized the FACE Act as a tool to “stifle free speech and abuse the rights of Christian conservatives.”
He pointed to data showing that 97% of all FACE Act prosecutions have targeted pro-lifers, with the Biden administration bringing 24 cases, nearly all against pro-life activists.
“The FACE Act was ostensibly passed because of violence. But as my family knows very well, all it did was give violence the cover of law and place it in the hands of the government,” Vaughn argued.
Paired with a felony conspiracy charge, Vaughn and other activists faced the prospect of over a decade in prison and crushing financial penalties.
One of Vaughn’s co-defendants, Cal Zastrow, is currently serving time for similar charges.
After being convicted in January, Vaughn was sentenced to three years of supervised release and restricted to the Middle District of Tennessee. He was granted a special exception to testify in D.C. for this hearing.
The hearing, led by Reps. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Dan Bishop (R-NC), also included testimony from Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Erin Hawley and Thomas More Society lawyer Steve Crampton, both of whom have represented pro-life defendants persecuted under the Biden administration’s aggressive use of the FACE Act.
Roy, a staunch opponent of the Act, has called for its repeal and demanded transparency from the Justice Department regarding its targeting of pro-lifers.
This testimony sheds light on a troubling pattern under the Biden administration: silencing conservative Christians through heavy-handed tactics.
Vaughn’s story is a sobering reminder of the government’s overreach, one that threatens not just free speech but the very foundation of religious liberty.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
