Biden DOJ Relied on Cozy Relationship with Pro-Abortion Activists to Track and Prosecute Pro-Lifers, Emails Show

The Biden administration worked alongside pro-abortion activists to track the activities of pro-lifers, some of whom the Department of Justice later prosecuted for their peaceful protest actions thanks to dossiers from pro-abortion groups, according to a new report from the Trump administration.

The Justice Department’s Weaponization Working Group on Tuesday published a nearly 900-page report documenting the Biden administration’s weaponization of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. 

Investigators who analyzed more than 700,000 internal records found that pro-abortion groups including the National Abortion Federation, Planned Parenthood, and Feminist Majority Foundation used their close relationship with the Biden DOJ to gain internal information and push targets for enforcement.

The weaponization was carried out in large part by the National Task Force on Violence Against Reproductive Health Care Providers, which operated out of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division under the direction of Sanjay Patel.

The report reveals Patel was on “texting terms” with the National Abortion Federation Security Team and that he also “regularly communicated” with the other two groups.

In messages from November 2021, Patel introduced an unidentified FBI agent to Michelle Davidson, the security director for the National Abortion Federation, calling her a “wonderful contact for me as it relates to FACE Act investigations.”

“She has been an MVP bringing incidents to my attention, often in real-time, which usually result in investigation/prosecution,” Patel said.

The Biden DOJ leaned into this close relationship with the groups, even asking the activists about pro-life individuals’ travel and constitutionally protected advocacy. 

An abortion group supplied Patel with a dossier in 2021 that contained sensitive personal information about pro-life activists, including addresses, photographs of the activists and their family members, names of associates and affiliated ministries, information about their upcoming travel plans or planned protests, and drivers’ license numbers.

Calvin Zastrow, an evangelical Christian from Michigan and pro-life activist, and his daughter Eva Zastrow were both targeted by the Biden DOJ with help from the pro-abortion groups.

The National Abortion Federation sent Patel an email in May 2021 calling attention to “anti-choice social media” Facebook posts from Calvin Zastrow in which he recapped how earlier pro-life protests were “normal Christian behavior.”

Months later, Patel asked the National Abortion Federation if they had any information on Zastrow’s travel plans.

“Do you have any info on Zastrow and Co’s travel to Montana?” Patel asked the National Abortion Federation in September 2021. Davidson had previously told DOJ officials she “bet” that Zastrow might attempt to lead a protest at an abortion facility in Montana.

Zastrow was later charged by the Biden DOJ in October 2022 for a protest in Tennessee, and a second time in February 2023 for a protest in Michigan. 

Zastrow’s daughter was mentioned in a 136-page dossier put together by the DOJ about attendees of a conference hosted by the pro-life group Operation Save America. 

“The entire Zastrow family is engaged in anti-choice activities and sometimes refer to themselves as the ‘Zastrow Holiness Revival Team.’ Several members of the Zastrow family, including Eva, have been arrested at reproductive health care facilities in the past,” the dossier explained.

It added that she was “closely associated” with Coleman Boyd, Dennis Green, Heather Idoni, James Zastrow, and Eva Edl, an 89-year-old communist death camp survivor. 

All six of them were ultimately prosecuted by the Biden administration. 

The close relationship with the Biden DOJ paid off for the abortion groups in more ways than one. 

In fact, the lead prosecutor on each FACE Act prosecution served as a reference on the National Abortion Federation’s application for a private grant — though Trump administration investigators were unable to find any record of ethics approval for the attorney to take an interest in the financial outcome of a party having business before the Biden DOJ.

Biden DOJ official Paige Fitzgerald wrote an email to a federal ethics officer in October 2023 that described the relationship between the federal government and the National Abortion Federation as stretching on for “decades.”

“We have worked with NAF for decades. NAF regularly refers potential FACE Act violations and other threats to RPCPs [Reproductive Healthcare Providers], helps us liaise with clinics and staff, lets us know about upcoming events that might result in security concerns so we can notify the FBI and USMS, etc,” Fitzgerald wrote in the email. “The information flow has always been a one-way street, and they have always been respectful, cooperative, and are frequently quite helpful.”

The email was asking the federal ethics officer whether the DOJ would be allowed to provide a reference after the National Abortion Federation asked for a letter “on DOJ letterhead” to help them with a grant application.

“Is there anything that we can do to tell grant folks that they are totally legit and they have been valuable to our law enforcement efforts?” Fitzgerald wrote.

Patel previously said he would serve as a reference for the group’s application for another grant in December 2020.

The report found the Biden DOJ also pushed for much harsher sentences for pro-life defendants than for violent pro-abortion defendants, with the DOJ requesting an average sentence of 26.8 months for pro-lifers, compared to 12.3 months for pro-abortion defendants. Pro-lifers were prosecuted for peaceful protests that involved praying, singing and sitting in front of abortion facilities.

The task force also found the Biden DOJ was biased in its enforcement of the FACE Act, with the agency providing extensive support to abortion clinics while ignoring and downplaying vandalism and attacks against pregnancy resource centers, which are also protected by the act.

“This Department will not tolerate a two-tiered system of justice,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche in a statement on Tuesday. “No Department should conduct selective prosecution based on beliefs. The weaponization that happened under the Biden Administration will not happen again, as we restore integrity to our prosecutorial system.”

President Trump issued full pardons to many of the pro-lifers targeted by the Biden DOJ when he took office last year.

The Trump DOJ has also settled civil cases to “address the injustices” and took personnel action against those responsible, the agency said. 

Just last week, the department settled for a sum of more than $1 million with Mark Houck, a Catholic father of seven whose home was raided by armed FBI agents before he was prosecuted under the FACE Act.