The Left is always up to something shady. But this is the worst it could be.
And Democrats are sweating bullets after being hit with a massive federal investigation.
According to newly revealed documents, the HHS inspector general launched an inquiry into the University of Pittsburgh after it was accused of illegally taking fetal tissue from aborted fetuses for experimentation.
The documents were received as part of a public records request from Judicial Watch and the Center for Medical Progress (CMP), the organization that revealed video footage of Planned Parenthood executives discussing the selling of body parts from aborted newborns in 2015.
According to the new emails, university administrators confirmed in November 2021 that they had been subpoenaed by an agent from the HHS Office of Inspector General.
“The University of Pittsburgh has been a center for some of the most barbaric experiments, government-funded experiments, on the body parts of late-term aborted babies,” CMP President David Daleiden said.
“We now have the first confirmation with these FOIA documents that this is all subject of a formal federal law enforcement investigation of the OIG [Office of Inspector General].”
The CMP first reported on the heinous experiments at Pitt in 2019. Five-month-old fetuses were scalped in order to patch their scalps and back skin onto lab rats, and fetal kidneys were transported to other researchers.
According to the emails, Pitt’s Senior Vice Chancellor for Research Dr. Rob Rutenba acknowledged the existence of a federal investigation into the university in response to a request for information on the university’s fetal tissue projects from NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research Dr. Michael Lauer.
“With regard to your request for documentation/information, please be aware that we received a subpoena from HHS OIG requesting similar documentation on October 28, 2021,” Rutenba wrote on Friday, November 2021.
“We are happy to provide the requested information to both you and the HHS OIG, however, [redacted] instructed us not to provide the documentation you have requested information until he has had the opportunity to speak with you.”
The HHS OIG inquiry is still ongoing. “We don’t know the results of the OIG investigation yet. We don’t know if the OIG has further referred that investigation to the FBI or the Department of Justice. The University of Pittsburgh has been completely in damage control mode,” Daleiden said.
Agents with the HHS OIG can arrest people, conduct surveillance, serve search warrants, and take evidence. According to the HHS OIG office, they can “neither confirm nor deny the existence of any investigation, should there be any.”
Pitt is being investigated for its GenitoUrinary Development Molecular Anatomy Project (GUDMAP), which is reported to have spanned from 2016 to 2021.
The initiative is described by Daleiden as “an NIH-sponsored program for harvesting and distributing late-term aborted fetal kidneys and other body parts to other NIH-funded projects across the country.”
Pitt engaged a “outside law firm” to investigate its fetal tissue experiment program in response to rumors and claims of unlawful activity. The firm’s study stated that Pitt was in accordance with state and federal law, and the institution has denied any misconduct.
“As we have stated in the past: Fetal tissue research plays a critical role in advancing life-saving discoveries. We remain committed to maintaining robust internal controls and to extending our record of compliance at the state and federal levels, and we take these responsibilities seriously,” a Pitt spokesman said in January 2022.
Republicans have continued to press for an investigation of Pitt’s behavior and have requested an audit by the HHS inspector general.
“I think that the fact that a federal law enforcement agency like OIG thought that the information and allegations about the grant application were serious enough to open an investigation shows that the issue of fetal trafficking and selling aborted baby parts is not going away for the abortion industry,” Daleiden said in a statement.
A request for comment was not immediately returned by the University of Pittsburgh.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
