- The Small Business Administration hid communications with Planned Parenthood about allegedly illegal COVID-19 loans, emails obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation program.
- DCNF filed for a Freedom of Information Act request in May 2020 for communications related to Planned Parenthood Pay Check Protection Program loans, after Republican Party lawmakers called for an investigation into the $ 80 million in loans granted to Planned Parenthood affiliates.
- Lawmakers argued that these affiliates obtained the loans illegally.
The Small Business Administration hid communications with Planned Parenthood about COVID-19 loans that Republicans say are illegal, emails obtained through the Daily Caller News Foundation program.
The SBA released heavily edited emails among the Planned Parenthood agency, creditors and affiliates in response to a Freedom of Information Act request that the DCNF filed in May 2020. Republican Party lawmakers had previously demanded a US investigation. $ 80 million in loans from the Salary Protection Program (PPP), saying they were obtained illegally.
The SBA has repeatedly refused to comment on the Republicans’ claims. (RELATED: Rubio asks the SBA to investigate how planned paternity obtained $ 80 million in loans for the coronavirus virus)
“Americans have a right to know why their tax dollars went to Planned Parenthood’s abortion clinics, rather than small businesses, nonprofits and struggling churches,” Senator Tom Cotton told DCNF.
“The Small Business Administration must disclose how Planned Parenthood affiliates manipulated the system to receive PPP loans illegally – and then refer those affiliates to the Justice Department for prosecution,” continued the Arkansas Republican.
SBA Dodges Dealing with Newsrooms
The edited communications appear to discuss Republican concerns about PPP loans, as well as a letter from Republican lawmakers calling for investigations into whether the loans were distributed illegally.
Due to the wording, it is not clear what the SBA decided or how the SBA rationalized its decision. However, an email from May 18, 2020 from an SBA employee to a Sun Trust email address said that SBA did not have the ability to make a final determination on eligibility because “these decisions are responsibility of the applicant and the creditor “.
The email stated that an unidentified applicant met the required 501 (c) (3) criteria.
“If other eligibility criteria are met, the application may be eligible,” said the email.
DCNF put pressure on SBA on the few partially unedited communications from Planned Parenthood affiliates. An email from May 2020, largely taken, is from Northern New England’s Planned Parenting Finance Director, Jennifer Meyer.
Screenshot, SBA email.
The subject line of the email says: “PPP funds in new account”. The SBA has edited the content of the email, although Meyer’s name, email signature and subject line are visible.
SBA spokeswoman Megan Moore told DCNF that Meyer’s name was “inadvertently disclosed” but that the SBA cannot disclose information from candidates who “have not received a loan”.
Northern New England’s planned Parenthood, however, received a $ 2.72 million PPP loan on April 5, 2020, federal records show. The affiliate did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
When DCNF pressured Moore to explain the discrepancy, she acknowledged that her earlier statement that Northern New England Planned Parenthood did not receive a loan was false, but said that previous discussions about the Planned Parenting affiliate’s eligibility cannot be disclosed.
DCNF reminded Moore that the edited communications were sent after the loan was issued, not earlier, but Moore insisted that “eligibility issues can be raised at any time, regardless of the loan approval date.”
GOP claims that paternity planned PPP loans illegally received
The Planned Parenthood Action Fund previously issued a statement on March 25 recognizing that the CARES Act legislation gave SBA the power to exclude Planned Parenthood affiliates from receiving loans.
“The project gives the Small Business Administration ample discretion to exclude Planned Parenthood affiliates and other nonprofits that serve low-income people and deny them the benefits of the new small business loan program,” the statement said.
Despite this statement, Planned Parenthood confirmed in May 2020 that “some independent Planned Parenthood 501 (c) (3) organizations have applied for and received loans in accordance with the eligibility rules established by the CARES Act and the Small Business Administration (SBA) ), that they met. “
Following this revelation, Republican lawmakers asked SBA administrator Jovita Carranza to investigate how 37 Planned Parenthood affiliates received $ 80 million in loans.
“These circumstances call for a thorough investigation to determine whether there has been a breach, and we ask that any misconduct be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” lawmakers said in a May 2020 letter.
Since May, the SBA has repeatedly refused to discuss the matter with the DCNF. The SBA has repeatedly told DCNF that it does not “comment on individual borrowers”.
In January, Republican lawmakers again called on the SBA to investigate PPP loans.(RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Cotton, Senators Require SBA to Stop ‘Naked Attempts to Defraud’ the Government of Planned Parenthood through PPP Loans)
“Planned Parenthood affiliates are well aware that they are not eligible to receive PPP loans, based on letters from the SBA and the frank admission of its political action committee,” wrote senators in the January letter to Carranza. “His attempts to apply for PPP loans are blatant attempts to defraud the United States government.”
Cotton and his fellow senators emphasized that Planned Parenthood employs approximately 16,000 people across the country and “jealously exercises control over local affiliates, subjecting them to uniform statutes, accreditation, frequent reviews and mandates over the services they must provide to remain part of Federation, such as abortion on the spot. ”
Since Planned Parenthood has too many employees to be eligible for Salary Protection Program loans, the organization’s local affiliates are also not eligible for loans, lawmakers wrote. (RELATED: Senators Urge DOJ to Investigate Planned Parenthood to Receive Coronavirus Funding)
“However, at least 37 Planned Parenthood affiliates illegally obtained more than $ 80 million in taxpayer funds during the initial PPP rounds, certifying their eligibility for the program,” the senators wrote in their letter. “In response, the SBA determined that these affiliates were not eligible to receive PPP loans and issued letters informing them of the consequences of false eligibility certifications, including loan repayment, loss of loan forgiveness and other civil and criminal penalties.”
Planned Parenthood did not respond to DCNF requests for comment on this story.
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