WASHINGTON _ House Democrats on Wednesday walked out of a meeting of a congressional investigative panel launched in the aftermath of the controversy over Planned Parenthood's abortion practices, charging the proceedings amounted to a "witch hunt."
The meeting of the Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives was to consider a report recommending that the biotech company StemExpress LLC and its owner Catherine Spears Dyer be held in contempt for refusing to comply to a subpoena seeking accounting records relating to research of fetal tissue.
The remaining eight Republicans voted unanimously to advance the report, but it is unclear whether the recommendations will be taken up on the House floor.
StemExpress came under the spotlight after a series of sting videos showed Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of fetal tissue.
Democrats tried to adjourn the meeting several times before all six members walked out of the hearing room. They called on Speaker Paul D. Ryan to disband the committee, arguing the GOP majority didn't inform them what the hearing was about and took up a report they said could not be amended.
Democratic members repeatedly argued the subcommittee did not have the authority to hold anyone in contempt. They called the hearing and the work of the panel a "McCarthyesque witch hunt."
