Not satisfied with having put Dr. George Tiller's clinic out of business, Operation Rescue is now trying to pressure the Kansas Supreme Court to go after Planned Parenthood.
With 107 criminal charges against Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri stalled for months in the Kansas Supreme Court, Operation Rescue has launched a petition to to send the illegal late-term abortion case to trial.
Wow -- 107 criminal charges? That sounds bad. Except for this:
Former Johnson County District Attorney Phill Kline filed the massive abortion case on October 17, 2007, three months before leaving office. Current District Attorney Steve Howe, a political rival of Kline's, has shown no interest in pursuing a prosecution.
Phill Kline? Hmm... why does that name sound familiar?
The Kansas Board for Discipline of Attorneys released a complaint Tuesday claiming [Phill] Kline committed "breaches of trust of his public office" and professional misconduct during his investigations of [Dr. George] Tiller.
...
The board claims Kline and his deputy prosecutors broke seven Rules of Professional Conduct, including conflict of interest, competence in dealing with complex issues, handling of sensitive documents and misleading judges. The complaint also cites Kline for making improper public comments about ongoing investigations.
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The complaint also points to Kline's appearance on Fox's "The O'Reilly Factor" with Bill O'Reilly. Kline spoke about the contents of records obtained from the clinic, after the Kansas Supreme Court told him to "resist any impulse to further publicize the respective legal positions," the complaint said.
Oh, that Phill Kline. Kansas King of Ethical Violations. The guy whose 90 subpoenas, which Operation Rescue is seeking to have reinstated, are the subject of the investigation into his ethical violations. Gee. Can't imagine why no one in the district attorney's office -- or the State Supreme Court -- has shown much interest in pursuing Kline's dream to shut down every abortion provider in Kansas.
And here's an added bonus:
After my last report on Operation Rescue and Phill Kline's dirty deeds, I received an email from Brian Burgess, former spokesman for Phill Kline. Burgess is apparently obsessed with setting the record straight about his former boss. He originally wrote to ask me to print a correction about this sentence:
In the case of Dr. Tiller, the organization found its ally in Phill Kline, now under investigation for ethics violations, who spent years investigating and intimidating Dr. Tiller and his clinic. Dr. Tiller was tried and acquitted of all charges, but that didn't stop Operation Rescue from continuing to claim that Dr. Tiller had performed illegal abortions.
So here's the "correction":
Dr. Tiller was not tried by Phill Kline, but by Assistant Attorney General Barry Disney because Kline's charges were thrown out.
But that wasn't all Burgess had to say. He also wrote that the only reason Dr. Tiller wasn't convicted was because of the "corrupt" Planned Parenthood and "a consortium of Tiller allies," who apparently have a stranglehold on the entire Kansas justice system, from the district attorney's office all the way up to the State Supreme Court. Who knew Planned Parenthood and "Tiller allies" were that powerful?
Here's the best part of Burgess's last to me:
You're a scumbag. Your post isn't worthy of my time - Kline did his job, period. And one does not become a "hero" for agreeing to be paid $8,000 for killing a 31-week old fetus, just because the mother wanted to go see a rock concert. Like it or not, that kind of abortion is against Kansas law. There is nothing "heroic" about it. The woman was irresponsible tragically so - and Tiller was a profiteer who exploited her (and thousands of others just like her) and used a portion of the proceeds to buy off the state justice system. End of story.
I'm sorry for wasting both of our evenings. I should not have given you the benefit of the doubt.
Up yours,
Brian
Hope you liked your correction, Brian.