O'Reilly And Kelly Hyped Allegations Kansas Officials Destroyed Evidence Of Wrongdoing By Planned Parenthood

O'Reilly And Megyn Kelly Suggest Planned Parenthood And Kansas Officials Conspired To Cover Up Wrongdoing. On the October 28 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly hosted Kelly to discuss charges leveled against Planned Parenthood by ex-attorney general Phill Kline. From The O'Reilly Factor:

O'REILLY: Now, State of Kansas and Planned Parenthood. Kansas is ground zero for the late-term abortion debate in this country. And Planned Parenthood is up to that to its neck. So they wanted to get some records from Planned Parenthood. Referrals. Abortion referrals to see how late they were, what the situation was. And Kansas destroyed the records.

KELLY: What happened was, you know, Planned Parenthood needs to keep records if it performs abortions in particular if you've got young girls going in there under the age of 14

O'REILLY: Because of statutory rape.

KELLY: That's right. And when they perform an abortion like that, they have to keep a record to let the state know. And the prosecutor at the time the attorney general Phill Kline, who the viewers may know by this point, says that he had proof that there was up to 166 abortions performed, and they only had a record of one from Planned Parenthood.

O'REILLY: And the reason that Kline alleges that Planned Parenthood didn't turn that over to him when he asked for it is because they were statutory rape cases which are mandated to be reported to the authorities in Kansas.

KELLY: Right. So he is saying where are the other records?

O'REILLY: Where are the 165?

[...]

O'REILLY: Does the state of Kansas routinely shred documents after a certain amount of time?

KELLY: They do, but, but the question here is whether you would ever do that when you knew --

O'REILLY: There's a criminal activity going on -- investigation.

KELLY: Yeah that there was a criminal investigation going on? That's highly unusual, there are rules.

O'REILLY: So you, Megyn Kelly, think something may be wrong.

KELLY: I think something stinks.

O'REILLY: Do you really?

KELLY: Something stinks here. I don't know who's got their fingerprints on it, but I think one of the things I find most highly suspicious is that why didn't the Department of Health go to the DA -- he's been litigating over those documents for, you know, months and years now -- and say, “don't argue over those. We destroyed them in 2005.” Why did they wait?

O'REILLY: Because they were afraid that this whole investigation was going to blow up.

KELLY: Yeah, you tell me. [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 10/28/11]

Case Is Based On Allegations Made By Former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline

Kline Alleged That Planned Parenthood Had Falsified Documents About Abortion. From the Kansas City Star:

The destroyed records were critical in establishing the authenticity of records from 2003 that Kline obtained when he investigated Planned Parenthood as attorney general. Planned Parenthood also provided copies of the records, but Kline contended that those did not match the ones he had in his possession.

In 2007, after he became Johnson County prosecutor, Kline filed a 107-count complaint against the abortion provider.

In addition to the 23 felonies, the complaint also charged Planned Parenthood with multiple misdemeanor counts of failing to maintain the pregnancy termination reports, failing to perform viability tests on fetuses and unlawful late-term abortions.

Prosecutors contended that Planned Parenthood had not kept the documents five years as required by law and falsified copies to cover it up.

The current Johnson County district attorney, Steve Howe, picked up the case after he defeated Kline in the 2008 Republican primary and went on to win the general election.

Howe declined to comment on the case Friday. It was unclear when he discovered that the records were destroyed. He subpoenaed them last month, according to a response filed Friday by Planned Parenthood.

The records in question deal with reports that Planned Parenthood must file under state law for each abortion it performs. One copy is kept by Planned Parenthood in the patient files, and another is sent to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Prosecutors wanted to prove the records obtained by Kline were the same as those filed with the state and different from alleged copies provided later by Planned Parenthood. [Kansas City Star, 10/21/2011]

Kansas Authorities Have Rebuked Kline For “Dishonest Conduct”

Kansas Disciplinary Panel Recommended Kline Be Indefinitely Suspended Because Of “Dishonest Conduct” Related To His Investigations Of Clinics That Perform Abortion. At no point during the segment did Kelly or O'Reilly question the credibility of Kline's allegations. However, on October 12, the Kansas Board for Discipline of Attorneys unanimously recommended that Kline should be indefinitely suspended from the practice of law based on Kline's violations of Kansas attorney ethics rules during his investigations of clinics that performed abortions. The Kansas Supreme Court will make the final determination on whether Kline violated ethics rules and, if so, what his punishment should be. In coming to its recommendation, the board stated:

The Hearing Panel concluded that the Respondent has repeatedly violated many of the Kansas Rules of Professional Conduct, including the most serious of the rules, the rules that prohibit engaging in false or dishonest conduct

Part of an attorney's oath in Kansas is:

You do solemnly swear or affirm that you will support and bear true allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Kansas; . . . that you will neither do, nor consent to the doing of any falsehood in court; and that you will discharge your duties as an attorney and counselor of the Supreme Court and all other courts of the State of Kansas with fidelity both to the Court and to your cause, and to the best of your knowledge and ability. So help you God.

(Kan. Sup. Ct. R. 720). In addition to the rule violations, as mentioned by the Review Committee in ruling on the Respondent's motion for reconsideration, it also appears that the Respondent violated the oath of attorneys by consenting to the commission of numerous falsehoods. [Kansas Board for Discipline of Attorneys, 10/12/11, via WatchdogMedia.org]

KS Supreme Court Sanctioned Kline For “Inexcusable” Behavior During Investigation Of Clinics That Perform Abortions. From a Kansas Supreme Court decision in Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood, in which the court ruled that Kline had improperly retained some Planned Parenthood documents after losing his bid to be reelected as Kansas attorney general:

An obvious and sorry pattern emerges from the foregoing examples and from Kline's performance at oral argument before us. Kline exhibits little, if any, respect for the authority of this court or for his responsibility to it and to the rule of law it husbands. His attitude and behavior are inexcusable, particularly for someone who purports to be a professional prosecutor. It is plain that he is interested in the pursuit of justice only as he chooses to define it. As already noted in Alpha, he has consistently disregarded the clear import of this court's directions, instead doing what he chose because “he knew best how he should behave, regardless of what this court had ordered, and [believed] that his priorities should trump whatever priorities this court had set.”

[...]

In light of all of the foregoing and because Kline and his subordinates have, during their time in Johnson County, capitalized on what they learned while Kline was Attorney General, we hereby order the following sanction:

Kline shall produce and hand deliver to the Attorney General's office no later than 5 p.m. on December 12, 2008, a full and complete and understandable set of any and all materials gathered or generated by Kline and/or his subordinates in their abortion-related investigation and/or prosecution since Kline was sworn in as Johnson County District Attorney.   Neither Kline nor any of his subordinates or lawyers may make any exceptions whatsoever for any reason or on any rationale to the foregoing order.  “Full, complete, and understandable” means exactly what it says.   This set of materials shall be organized and labeled exactly as organized and labeled in the files or repositories maintained by and/or for Kline and his subordinates in the discharge of their duties on behalf of the Johnson County District Attorney's office. The cost of the production and delivery of the set of materials described in this paragraph shall be borne by the Johnson County District Attorney's office.

We also hereby order as an additional sanction that Kline, Rucker, Maxwell, Williams, Reed and any other employee of the Johnson County District Attorney's office requested by the Attorney General shall meet with the Attorney General and/or his designee(s) on whatever date(s) and at whatever time(s) designated by the Attorney General up to and including noon on January 10, 2009, and at whatever place(s) designated by the Attorney General for the purpose of explaining all of the materials turned over by 5 p.m. on December 12, 2008, pursuant to the relief and sanction orders contained in this decision by this court. [Supreme Court of Kansas, 12/5/08]

KS Supreme Court Previously Criticized Kline For “Troubling,” “Defiant” Answers To The Court. In a 2006 case also involving Kline's investigation of a clinic that provided abortions, Alpha Medical Clinic v. Anderson, the Kansas Supreme Court stated:

Kline's initial responses were troubling. He admitted that he attached sealed court records to a brief he knew would be unsealed;  that he did so knowingly because, in his sole estimation, he believed it to be necessary to further his arguments;  that he held a press conference on this criminal matter merely because he determined that petitioners had painted his previous actions in an unflattering light;  and that he later permitted his staff to provide electronic copies of the sealed transcript to anyone who requested them. In essence, Kline has told this court that he did what he did simply because he believed that he knew best how he should behave, regardless of what this court had ordered, and that his priorities should trump whatever priorities this court had set. Furthermore, although there is conflict between the parties on exactly what was said in the press conference, i.e. whether the actual content of the sealed documents was discussed, Kline's stated reason for holding the conference-to combat what he saw as unflattering earlier press coverage-does not appear to be among the permissible reasons for an attorney in his position to engage in extrajudicial statements under Kansas Rule of Professional Conduct 3.6 (2005 Kan. Ct. R. Annot. 473). This too is troubling. [Supreme Court of Kansas, 2/3/06]

• Kansas Supreme Court Later Said That In This Case, Kline “Narrowly Escaped A Contempt Citation.” In Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood, the court stated that Kline had “persisted in his attitude and behavior despite the fact Alpha made clear that he had already narrowly escaped a contempt citation.” [Supreme Court of Kansas, 12/5/08]

Officials Say They Shredded Planned Parenthood Records As Part Of Their Routine Policies On Document Destruction

Kansas Officials Said Planned Parenthood Document Destruction Was Routine. From the Kanas City Star:

Johnson County prosecutors asked a judge to delay a Monday hearing to decide if there's enough evidence to try Planned Parenthood on 23 felony counts of falsifying pregnancy termination reports.

Prosecutors say the records, which are central to making their case, were shredded sometime in 2005, roughly two years before charges were brought against Planned Parenthood by former Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment shredded the records as a “routine” destruction of state documents, court files said. [Kansas City Star, 10/12/2011]

O'Reilly Has A Long History Of Smears And Falsehoods Regarding Abortion

• O'Reilly Falsely Claimed That A Pregnant Woman's Life Could “Never” Be “In Danger” From Pregnancy Complications. [Media Matters, 10/16/06]
• O'Reilly Claimed “Women's Privacy” Is “The New Mantra” Which Allows For “Infanticide.” [Media Matters, 10/30/08]
• O'Reilly Said Sebelius Is “Pro-Abortion, She Wants The Babies Done For.” [Media Matters, 10/11/09]
• O'Reilly On Kansas Abortion Provider Tiller: "[I]F I Could Get My Hands On Tiller -- Well, You Know. Can't Be Vigilantes. Can't Do That. It's Just A Figure Of Speech." [Media Matters, 6/1/09]
• O'Reilly Asked Anti-Choice Activist If She “Believes That Planned Parenthood Is An Abortion Mill.” [Media Matters, 11/11/09]
• O'Reilly Promoted Myth That Planned Parenthood Is “Aiding And Abetting Child Sex Rings.” [Media Matters, 4/19/11]