At the beginning of Wednesday's hearing, Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) alleged that the documents presented by the committee were "created wholesale" by Republican staffers and were "misleading."
The chairwoman of the committee Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) responded that the documents were produced through "regular investigatory work" and information came from whistleblowers, subpoenas, former employees, citizens filing FOIA requests, and the internet.
StemExpress responded with a legal memo sent to the panel's chair and ranking member saying that the documents could be stolen. Daleiden, the project chair for the Center for Medical Progress' "Human Capital Project," admitted that he used the password of a former employee to access the company's records, and StemExpress alleged that he could have provided some of the documents to the panel.
Additionally, they did not profit from fetal tissue procurement, the company claimed. Although their overall profits rose from 2010 to 2014, fetal tissue procurement made up only one percent of profits in 2014-15. While their revenue from fetal tissue totaled just under $75,000 in 2014-15, the costs for the procurement were over $95,000, making it a $20,000 loss.
"In short, StemExpress does not provide fetal tissue to its customers to make money; rather, it is offered to support the needs of the world's best researchers in their efforts to treat and cure diseases," the company stated.
One of the witnesses, former Justice Department attorney Brian Lennon, thought that according to the documents presented by the panel, "the proofs more clearly establish" that the abortion clinics received illegal compensation.
The "price-partitioned payment is indeed 'valuable consideration' as none of the identified services excluded from the definition were provided by the clinics," he said, referring to the lawful purposes of compensation. He pointed to the advertisements included in the report of the company telling potential clients they could make a profit.
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Matt Hadro was the political editor at Catholic News Agency through October 2021. He previously worked as CNA senior D.C. correspondent and as a press secretary for U.S. Congressman Chris Smith.