First on Fox: Trump DOJ reaches settlement with pro-life protester targeted by Biden admin
A Christian father of 11 has reached a settlement with the Department of Justice after facing up to 10 years in prison for protesting at a Tennessee abortion clinic in March 2021.
Paul Vaughn was convicted of violating the FACE Act, a federal law that prohibits "threats of force, obstruction or inflict property damage intended to interfere with reproductive health care services."
The 1994 law was used by former President Joe Biden's Justice Department to aggressively prosecute pro-life activists following the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
Two days after he was charged, federal agents raided Vaughn's home at gunpoint, according to his attorneys at the Thomas More Society, and arrested him in front of his wife and children.
The Biden DOJ also added a felony conspiracy charge carrying up to 10.5 years in prison.
Vaughn pursued legal action against the Justice Department over his prosecution. He shared first with Fox News Digital that he recently reached a seven-figure settlement with the government agency.
Vaughn said the settlement has brought much-needed closure to his family after living through a traumatic, multiyear ordeal stemming from the "egregious deeds of the Biden DOJ."
"Obviously, money doesn't equate justice, and there's not a true sense of justice in the settlement, but it is an acknowledgment of wrong, and it is something to help make up for the time lost," he told Fox News Digital.
Vaughn said seven of his eleven children — ranging from 18 months old to 18 years old — were home at the time of his arrest, and that three of his children were "basically held at gunpoint" by an agent in the yard during the encounter. He added that his 5-year-old continues to express anxiety due to what happened.
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"God's been gracious to us and has helped us through this process. But there's still a lot of unknowns of how does this impact a child's life, going into their adult years," Vaughn said.
Vaughn expressed gratitude to the Thomas More Society, the supporters who prayed for his family, and President Donald Trump's administration for taking steps to address his case.
He encouraged other people of faith to remain courageous regardless of who's in office, noting that "the threat of good and evil runs right through the heart of every man."
In January 2025, Trump pardoned Vaughn and 23 other pro-life protesters convicted under the FACE Act by the Biden administration Department of Justice. The move coincided with the annual March for Life demonstration in Washington, D.C.
Around the same time, the Department of Justice issued a memorandum outlining new charging policies for the federal law. Under the new guidance, future abortion-related FACE Act prosecutions and civil actions are permitted only under extraordinary circumstances or cases presenting severe aggravating factors, such as death, serious bodily harm, or major property damage, the memo from the Associate Attorney General said.
"We've never seen anything like that," Thomas More Society attorney Steve Crampton told Fox News Digital, calling the policy shift an extraordinary move.
Crampton added that he hopes the settlement "is a step toward restoring some faith in the system, faith in the rule of law actually being respected by federal law enforcement agencies."
"What was done to Paul and his family was a profound injustice, and we are grateful that this settlement acknowledges that," Crampton said. "We also commend the Trump Department of Justice for having the courage to look at what its predecessor did, call it what it was — an abuse of power — and change course. No American should ever again have to fear an FBI raid for praying and offering hope to women in need."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Justice and representatives for Joe Biden for comment but did not immediately hear back.
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The resolution follows a similar settlement reached by another pro-life activist, Mark Houck.
Houck received a seven-figure settlement from the Trump DOJ after filing a lawsuit over his 2022 arrest. He sought restitution for what he called "a faulty investigation" and "excessive force" after a SWAT team of around 25 people arrested him in front of his children at his home on Sept. 23, 2022, allegedly with guns drawn, on charges he had violated the FACE Act.
The shocking details of his arrest spurred criticism from conservatives that the Justice Department was targeting pro-life activists.