U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman is doing his darndest to run interference for the abortion giant Planned Parenthood.

In conjunction with Rep. Diana DeGette, the California Democrat recently penned a letter denouncing a congressional probe into Planned Parenthood’s use of taxpayer dollars. Putting aside the irony of his claim that Planned Parenthood does “life-saving work” (305,310 of those “works” in 2007 alone), Waxman said that Republicans are issuing “burdensome” requests, are on a “vendetta,” and are engaged in harassment.

Forgive me if I don’t cry a river. You see, aside from being the nation’s leading abortion provider, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, or PPFA, culled $363 million in government funds for the 2008-2009 fiscal year. Regardless of your beliefs about abortion, wouldn’t you like to know where those funds actually went? Isn’t that a key purpose of congressional oversight committees? That’s particularly relevant in the age of ACORN and Solyndra.

Legitimate questions have been raised about Planned Parenthood’s misuse of financial resources and failure to comply with the law.

Waxman’s complaint is in response to an investigation launched by U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Investigation. Stearns asked PPFA for copies of internal audits, state-agency initiated audits, official documentation that ensures taxpayer dollars aren’t funding abortions, and a summary of how Planned Parenthood affiliates detect criminal conduct and report sexual abuse and human trafficking.

How those requests constitute a burden, particular for an organization that receives hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, is a mystery known only to Waxman, DeGette, and their ultra-liberal cohorts.