Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton told her staff to nix a statement defending Planned Parenthood from a campaign speech after the Center for Medical Progress released a video exposing the abortion giant’s dealings in fetus parts, emails published by Wikileaks show.
“HRC felt strongly about not touching Planned Parenthood right now,” her speech director Dan Schwerin said in a July, 2015, email regarding her planned remarks.
Clinton was scheduled to address the Iowa Democratic Party at a dinner a few days after CMP released the first in a series of undercover videos featuring Planned Parenthood staff. A top doctor discusses the best way to abort a fetus in order to harvest its brain and limbs for researchers in the first video, which was released the Tuesday prior to Clinton’s speech.
The dinner was one of the first big events of the Democratic primary, where all the presidential contenders would gather in one place, including Clinton and her rival Sen. Bernie Sanders. An initial draft of Clinton’s speech discussed by Schwerin and other members of her campaign staff included a defense of Planned Parenthood, according to the emails.
“Given the growing controversy over the leaked Planned Parenthood video, with Boehner calling for hearings and other GOPers piling on, we should think about whether this is a good time to join the battle and come to Planned Parenthood’s defense, or whether it’s wiser to stay away,” Schwerin wrote. “For now, its in here.”
Democrats hesitated to publicly rally behind Planned Parenthood in the wake of the first few videos released by CMP, waiting more than a week before jumping in the fray. Republicans meanwhile had quickly seized on the videos, launching an investigation into whether Planned Parenthood broke the law banning profit from fetal tissue as CMP alleged, and moving to strip the abortion clinics of funding at the state and federal levels.
Although Clinton nixed the defense from the Iowa speech, she was one of the first Democrats to come to Planned Parenthood’s defense in remarks a little over a week later. That earned her campaign chair John Podesta a personal thank you from Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards.
“Yup,” Podesta replied at the time. “Took a little convincing. The tapes do hurt.”
Send tips to rachel@
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.