Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser moved to deflect big time on Friday after lawmakers called on authorities in the nation’s capital to perform autopsies on the bodies of aborted babies that were recovered from an abortion clinic in the city.

The left-wing Democratic mayor responded to those calls by accusing a pro-life activist of “tampering with fetal remains,” clearly attempting to take the focus off her administration.

Bowser was referring to Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising (PAAU) member Lauren Handy, who was arrested by the FBI and indicted along with eight others last week for “obstructing patients and providers of a reproductive health services facility” in October 2020, the Daily Wire reported, adding:

Bowser called this “extremist anti-abortion activity” in a letter to Republican Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford. He had led lawmakers in calling on the D.C. mayor and the Department of Justice earlier this week to perform autopsies on the bodies of five aborted babies that PAAU has said they intercepted when the clinic was attempting to send the fetal remains to Curtis Bay Medical Waste Facility.

“In response to your letter of April 5, 2022, regarding the indictment of Lauren Handy of the Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising for extremist anti-abortion activity in the District of Columbia in 2020, and relatedly, her claim of responsibility for tampering with fetal remains as reported last week, we refer your questions to the United States Department of Justice,” Bowser said in a Friday letter to Lankford. 

“The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) is in consultation with the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia on both matters,” she said. “The above referenced indictment and Ms. Handy’s claim of responsibility for March 30, 2022, and MPD’s  discoveries are, potentially, serious violations of federal law.”

“The investigation is ongoing,” she added.

In an interview with the outlet, Handy said “Bowser’s letter comes just after her endorsement from pro-abortion extremist group Emily’s List as she pursues re-election.”

“The mayor and her pro-abortion collaborators view me as a problem that they can quickly sweep away just like they do to so many others in the DC community,” she said. “Despite these attacks, I will continue to defend the unborn, the houseless, and all people in the margins.”

Also Friday, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) sent a letter Friday to the Department of Justice and the FBI calling on both to conduct an investigation into whether the abortions performed on the preterm babies was done in violation of existing federal laws.

“We are gravely concerned by allegations brought forward that suggest a preborn baby underwent a partial birth abortion at the Washington Surgi-Clinic in Washington, D.C.,” the Republicans wrote in a letter, exclusively obtained by The Daily Wire, sent Friday to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

“We demand that you conduct a comprehensive investigation on the circumstances surrounding the deaths of each preborn baby,” they added.

D.C. police have indicated that there do not appear to have been any violations of the law with the exception of how the aborted babies’ bodies were obtained. The District of Columbia doesn’t have any specific laws barring or limiting abortions, so they can effectively occur at any point throughout a nine-month pregnancy.