Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) joined Senator Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) in sending a letter on Thursday to Attorney General Bill Barr urging the Department of Justice to investigate Planned Parenthood.
Specifically, they asked Barr to investigate whether dozens of Planned Parenthood affiliates across the country fraudulently applied for and received loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) despite knowing they were ineligible to apply.
This, according to a press release Blackburn released Thursday.
Under the statuary text of the CARES Act, organizations like these affiliates were expressly prohibited from receiving PPP funds. Additionally, the Small Business Administration confirmed last month that its standing affiliation rules apply to the new PPP, which excludes organizations like Planned Parenthood that employ its type of governance and affiliation structure and exceed the cap on total employees, the press release said.
“The Paycheck Protection Program established by the CARES Act was designed by Congress to help struggling small businesses and nonprofit organizations by giving them access to low-cost loans for expenses like keeping their employees on payroll during this pandemic. It was not designed to give government funds to politicized, partisan abortion providers like Planned Parenthood,” the two senators in the press release.
“The funds in the program are not unlimited, and were depleted once already because of high demand. Planned Parenthood fraudulently taking tens of millions of dollars that were intended to help keep those small businesses and nonprofit organizations afloat cannot stand and must be addressed.”
The letter was also signed by Senators John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), John Kennedy (R-La.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), David Perdue (R-Ga.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), John Thune (R-S.D.) and Todd Young (R-Ind.).
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
