On Tuesday, Break Free Media on Substack posted an article about charges against Dr. Fakhruddin Attar and Dr. Jumana Nagarwala by the Department of Justice.

This is the Press Release from the Department of Justice (from 2017):

A Detroit physician and his wife were arrested this morning and charged by criminal complaint unsealed today for their alleged participation in a conspiracy that involved performing female genital mutilations (FGM) on minors.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel L. Lemisch of the Eastern District of Michigan, Special Agent in Charge David P. Gelios of the FBI’s Detroit Division and Special Agent in Charge Steve Francis of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) Detroit Field Office made the announcement.

Fakhruddin Attar, M.D., 53, and his wife, Farida Attar, 50, both of Livonia, Michigan, are charged with conspiring to perform female genital mutilations on minor girls out of Fakhruddin Attar’s medical clinic in Livonia. According to the complaint, some of the minor victims traveled interstate to have the procedure performed. The complaint alleges that the FGM procedure was performed on girls who were approximately six to eight years old.

Both defendants were arrested this morning and are scheduled to appear in federal court in Detroit this afternoon.

The defendants are alleged to have conspired with Jumana Nagarwala, M.D., who was arrested in Detroit on April 12, 2017, and ordered detained on April 17, 2017, pending trial. Nagarwala, Fakhruddin Attar and Farida Attar are believed to be the first people charged under 18 U.S.C. 116, which criminalizes FGM.

A complaint is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The FBI’s Detroit Division and HSI investigated the case with the assistance of the Livonia Police Department and with support of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section, the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Michigan and the FBI’s International Human Rights Unit, Criminal Investigative Division. Deputy Chief Sara Woodward of the General Crimes Unit of the Eastern District of Michigan, Fraud Section Assistant Chief Nick Surmacz and Trial Attorneys Amy Markopoulos and Malisa Dubal are prosecuting the case.

The FBI’s Detroit Field Division has set up a tip line for anyone who has information pertaining to the illegal practice of FGM or Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, Fakhruddin Attar or Farida Attar at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324). To submit an e-tip, please visit FBI.GOV/FGM.

The article posted at Substack on Tuesday reports:

Meet Dr. Fakhruddin Attar and Dr. Jumana Nagarwala. In 2017, charges of performing FGM on young girls were brought against these two Detroit doctors. However, the charges were dropped as it was ruled Congress did not have the right to criminalize the practice of FGM.

…So, let me get this right. Doctors federally charged with facilitating and performing genital cutting on minor girls are actively marketing pediatric services and receiving reimbursement from taxpayer-funded insurance programs.

The article at Substack notes:

Judge Bernard Friedman threw out the main charges in 2018. He ruled the federal FGM law unconstitutional because Congress had no power under the Commerce Clause to ban what he called a local criminal assault.

“Congress overstepped its bounds by legislating to prohibit [female genital mutilation],” Friedman wrote, calling it a “local criminal activity” for the states to regulate, not Congress.

In 2017, Michigan enacted MCL 333.9159, part of the Michigan Public Health Code, which prohibits cutting, removing, or sewing closed any part of a girl’s or woman’s external genitals for non‑medical reasons. The question then remains as to why Michigan hasn’t done anything about these two doctors.

Indeed, state prosecutors never filed charges, and the Michigan licensing board took no action. Both doctors simply renewed their unrestricted licenses and went back to practicing.

What good are laws if they are ignored.

This is unacceptable in America.