Republican lawmakers have repeatedly claimed that Planned Parenthood obtained the PPP loans illegally, but the SBA has so far declined to comment on those accusations.
“Americans have a right to know why their tax dollars went to Planned Parenthood’s abortion clinics instead of struggling small businesses, non-profits, and churches,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) told the Daily Caller. “The Small Business Administration ought to disclose how Planned Parenthood affiliates gamed the system to illegally receive PPP loans—and then refer those affiliates to the Department of Justice for prosecution.”
The Daily Caller issued a Freedom of Information Act request to the SBA in May 2020, and now they have received heavily redacted emails showing previously unreleased communications between the SBA and Planned Parenthood employees.
According to the Daily Caller, some of those emails appeared to discuss the concerns regarding whether the loans were legal.
The Daily Caller wrote:
"Due to the redactions, it is not clear what the SBA decided or how the SBA rationalized its decision. However, one May 18, 2020 email from an SBA employee to a Sun Trust email address said that the SBA did not have the ability to make a final determination on eligibility as 'these decisions are the responsibility of the applicant and the lender.'
The email noted that an unnamed applicant met the needed 501(c)(3) criteria.
'If other eligibility criteria is met then the submission may be eligible,' the email said."
The SBA also actively avoided answering the Daily Caller's questions about an email with the subject line "PPP funds in new account." SBA spokeswoman Megan Moore originally told the Daily Caller that the financial director's name was left unredacted by mistake. She also said that the SBA could not release information on applicants who “did not ultimately receive a loan.”
The Daily Caller knew, however, that Planned Parenthood of Northern England had received $2.72 million. When the news outlet pushed Moore to explain, she acknowledged that what she had said was false, but insisted that she still couldn't provide information about communications with Planned Parenthood. This included communications between the SBA and Planned Parenthood of New England that happened after its PPP loan was issued.
