James O'Keefe

'Dead' Voter Talking: O'Keefe Voter Fraud Stunt Confused 23-Year-Old For Dead 84-Year-Old

Ryan J. Reilly | January 14, 2012, 2:25PM

Robert William Beaulieu is 23-years-old, lives in Nashua, New Hampshire, and is a registered Democrat. He's also very much not dead.

But you wouldn't have known that if you watched the lastest undercover sting video from James O'Keefe's Project Veritas, which featured a man with an Irish accent attempting to obtain a ballot on behalf of a Robert Beaulieu who lives on Cassandra Lane.

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James O'Keefe

James O'Keefe Says $50K Donation Funded Voter Fraud Stunt

Ryan J. Reilly | January 12, 2012, 1:46PM

An "extremely generous donor" gave $50,000 to James O'Keefe's Project Veritas to fund their voter fraud stunt in New Hampshire on Tuesday, the conservative activist said in a email to supporters.

"Our Voter Fraud investigation is being funded with a gift of $50,000 from an extremely generous donor -- but that covers the cost of just ONE national project," O'Keefe wrote in a fundraising email.

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James O'Keefe

Election Law Experts Say James O'Keefe Allies Could Face Charges Over Voter Fraud Stunt

Ryan J. Reilly | January 11, 2012, 3:05PM

Update, Jan. 11, 5:00PM: Mark Zuckerman, a federal prosecutor in the New Hampshire U.S. Attorney's Office, told TPM he recently became aware of the Project Veritas video and was reviewing it but hadn't formed any opinion on whether it presented an issue.

It was one of the few -- if not the only -- coordinated efforts to attempt in-person voter fraud, and it was pulled off by affiliates of conservative activist James O'Keefe at polling places in New Hampshire Tuesday night. All of it part of an attempt to prove the need for voter ID laws that voting rights experts say have a unfair impact on minority voters.

Now election law experts tell TPM that O'Keefe's allies could face criminal charges on both the federal and state level for procuring ballots under false names, and that his undercover sting doesn't demonstrate a need for voter ID laws at all.

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James O'Keefe

James O'Keefe Spokesman Says Probation Officer Approved His 'Occupy Wall Street' Visit

Ryan J. Reilly | October 10, 2011, 6:08PM

James O'Keefe

A thought occurred to us when we saw reports this afternoon that conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe visited the Occupy Wall Street protest in New York City: isn't that dude still on probation?

So we looked into it, and according to court records, a judge never approved his trip across the Hudson River and out of the state of New Jersey, where he lives with his parents. A judge has regularly approved all of his trips since he pleaded guilty to entering U.S. property under false pretenses back in May 2010 and received three years probation.

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James O'Keefe

We May Find Out How Much Andrew Breitbart Paid James O'Keefe For One Of His ACORN Videos

Ryan J. Reilly | September 28, 2011, 12:40PM

Conservative Activists Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe

A federal judge handling a federal lawsuit filed by a former ACORN employee against James O'Keefe has ordered the conservative provocateur and filmmaker to disclose video footage and payments he received from Andrew Breitbart in relation to one of his sting operations.

"The Court believes that it may be relevant that Defendant was paid for the video of
Plaintiff," wrote U.S. Magistrate Judge Mitchell D. Dembin. "Such a payment may inform the intent of the Defendant in engaging in the alleged illegal activity and Plaintiff must prove that the actions were intentional."

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James O'Keefe

James O'Keefe's Latest 'Terrorist' Medicaid Sting Goes After Woman For Following Law

Ryan J. Reilly | July 20, 2011, 6:00AM

Stop me if you've heard this one. A man goes into a public assistance office in Charleston, South Carolina in a kilt, tells them he's a member of the Irish Republican Army and asks for help for 25 fellow Irishmen in a hospital who need Medicaid.

A government employee follows the rules and explains the process for filling out a Medicaid paperwork and the qualifications they'd need to meet. She informs them that a federal law intended to protect patient privacy requires her not to divulge any information he's told her.

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James O'Keefe

'Medicaid Fraud' By Undocumented 'Dealers' In James O'Keefe's Sting Would Have Been Caught

Ryan J. Reilly | July 19, 2011, 10:30AM

Ohio Medicaid Russian Drug Smuggling Investigation

James O'Keefe -- who bragged that he had evidence of public employees giving assistance to individuals who presented themselves as drug dealers and terrorists -- has released a new video that goes after county workers in an Ohio strip mall.

O'Keefe's Project Veritas released the first of what it said is a series of videos exposing Medicaid fraud.

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James O'Keefe

James O'Keefe: I've Got Evidence Public Employees Helped Fake Terrorists, Drug Smugglers

Ryan J. Reilly | July 13, 2011, 6:06PM

Conservative Activist James O'Keefe

Conservative provocateur James O'Keefe has his digital alms bowl out. He says his non-profit group "needs $30,000 RIGHT AWAY" to finish his latest sting operation that he claims "dwarfs anything Project Veritas has exposed to date."

His attacks on ACORN, Planned Parenthood, CNN, and NPR had varying degrees of success in taking down their targets or coming up with evidence to back his rhetoric. So who's next on his list? Government employees.

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James O'Keefe

James O'Keefe's Group Gets Non-Profit Status, Took In Only $2,367 In 2010

Ryan J. Reilly | May 27, 2011, 11:50AM

James O'Keefe

The Internal Revenue Service has granted James O'Keefe's group Project Veritas non-profit status, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports.

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James O'Keefe

James O'Keefe Grinds With Mary Landrieu Impersonator In New Music Video

Ryan J. Reilly | April 19, 2011, 9:20AM

James O'Keefe is out with a new music video that features him singing, dancing, smashing windows and grinding with a Sen. Mary Landrieu impersonator.

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James O'Keefe

O'Keefe Hits Up Supporters For Cash, Mingles With D.C. Conservatives

Ryan J. Reilly | April 5, 2011, 8:35AM

James O'Keefe

Conservative provocateur James O'Keefe, who asked supporters for donations a few weeks back to help him and his friends pay off the major credit card debt they racked up when they targeted National Public Radio, is hitting up his email list one again.

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James O'Keefe

Lawyer For Ex-ACORN Employee To James O'Keefe: You're No Ashton Kutcher

Ryan J. Reilly | March 30, 2011, 5:51PM

James O'Keefe

A lawyer for a former employee of the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN) who was secretly recorded by James O'Keefe is calling bull on O'Keefe's claims that the First Amendment protected his actions.

Four lawyers representing O'Keefe on a pro bono basis cited everything from the writings of James Madison to Ashton Kutcher's MTV show "Punk'd" to claim that O'Keefe's tactics were protected by the First Amendment.

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James O'Keefe

O'Keefe Says He Racked Up 'Major Credit Card Debt,' Needs To Raise $50K

Ryan J. Reilly | March 23, 2011, 10:45AM

James O'Keefe

Conservative provocateur James O'Keefe, fresh off his sting operation aimed at NPR, "must raise $50,000 quickly to keep moving forward" he said in an e-mail to supporters.

"Up 'til now, my friends and I have financed all of our work on our own -- running up major credit card debt," O'Keefe writes. "We made a lot of sacrifices -- personally and financially -- because we fight for what we believe in."

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James O'Keefe

NPR O'Keefes James O'Keefe With Misleadingly Edited Version Of Interview (AUDIO)

Ryan J. Reilly | March 19, 2011, 9:30AM

James O'Keefe

National Public Radio's "On The Media" gave conservative provocateur James O'Keefe a taste of his own medicine by employing the "black arts of broadcast editing" to create an "utterly dishonest impression" of his views.

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James O'Keefe

James O'Keefe Doesn't Want To Be Videotaped: 'He's Got Lawsuits Up The Gazoo' (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | March 18, 2011, 4:40PM

James O'Keefe, the conservative activist who made his name with a string of undercover video sting operations, doesn't like it so much when the camera is turned on him.

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NPR

Latest James O'Keefe NPR Tape Immediately Proves A Dud

Benjy Sarlin | March 17, 2011, 2:10PM

Branded as a revelatory scoop uncovering previously unknown donations from George Soros to NPR, James O'Keefe's latest sting on NPR was debunked as a non-story within hours of its release.

The news that O'Keefe purports to "break" -- that Soros had previously donated to the public broadcaster via grants from Soros' Open Society Institute -- had, in fact, long been publicly known through tax records and even press releases.

"We believe that journalism is a pillar of an open and democratic society and a critical tool for transparency and accountability," a spokeswoman for OSI, Laura Silber, told TPM after sending over a list of previous grants to NPR and affiliates. "A free and independent press serves as a watchdog of both government and the private sector. NPR, which is a respected national news organization, provides an excellent vehicle for regional and national analyses of the most critical issues facing our country."

The new audio recording features NPR director of institutional giving Betsy Liley talking with one of O'Keefe's actors, a member of a phony Muslim group claiming to want to donate $5 million to NPR. In their conversation, Liley discusses donations from George Soros, noting that after conservative attacks on him intensified he asked that his name not be mentioned on the air as a sponsor.

"George Soros and the Open Society Institute gave us $1.8 million, and they have decided not to use on-air credits because of what's happening in Congress," Liley says.

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James O'Keefe

Citing 'Punk'd,' James O'Keefe Questions Calif. Recording Law In ACORN Sting Suit

Ryan J. Reilly | March 17, 2011, 7:00AM

Conservative Activists James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles

James O'Keefe has been all over the news this month for his sting operation targeting National Public Radio. His undercover videos have strengthened House Republicans efforts to defund NPR.

Meanwhile, the fallout from one of O'Keefe's previous sting operations targeting the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN) is still playing out in federal court, where lawyers for the conservative provocateur are claiming a California law banning audio recordings without the consent of the other party is unconstitutional.

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NPR

NPR Condemns "Inappropriately Edited" James O'Keefe Video, But Apologizes Yet Again

Benjy Sarlin | March 14, 2011, 12:03PM

After reviewing widely circulated claims that James O'Keefe misled viewers in his sting operation on NPR, a spokeswoman for the news organization condemned the "inappropriately edited" video yesterday. Nonetheless, NPR maintains that the executive caught on tape, Ron Schiller, still behaved inappropriately.

In an interview with NPR's own media reporter David Folkenflik, NPR spokeswoman Dana Davis Rehm said that O'Keefe's Project Veritas "inappropriately edited the videos with an intent to discredit" the news organization. But she said that Schiller still made "egregious statements."

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James O'Keefe

NPR Emails Show CEO Refusing Donation from Phony O'Keefe Group

Benjy Sarlin | March 10, 2011, 8:00PM

James O'Keefe

Responding to a report that NPR was closer to accepting a $5 million donation from a phony Muslim group than previously acknowledged, NPR released e-mails to TPM backing up their claim that they had refused the money.

In their initial statement after hidden camera footage of their executives lunching with the fake foundation, NPR said that "The fraudulent organization represented in this video repeatedly pressed us to accept a $5 million check, with no strings attached, which we repeatedly refused to accept." The Daily Caller reported Thursday evening on emails in which NPR executives said they were "awaiting a draft agreement" from their legal counsel on the donation, raising the question of how far down the line negotiations had proceeded.

NPR spokeswoman Anna Christopher told TPM via e-mail that the agreement "never got beyond the internal drafting stage - and was never sent. Period." To back up her claim, Christopher provided TPM with four pages pages of emails in which CEO Vivan Schiller, who resigned Wednesday, and her staff discuss a potential donation from MEAC, the fake Muslim group created by James O'Keefe's Project Veritas to infiltrate NPR.

In an e-mail dated March 3, sent by the recently resigned Schiller to Betsy Liley, who appears in the two O'Keefe tapes, and two other staffers, Schiller suggests that MEAC is behaving oddly and that she can't accept a donation without further information -- despite pressure from the group to take the money immediately. She also correctly notes that MEAC's information would have to be provided to the IRS, resolving an issue that Lilely appears to have left unclear in a conversation with a phony Muslim donor depicted in the most recently released video.

"I spoke to Ibrahim," she writes. "He says they ARE a 501c3. And then he added... "I think". I told him we would need to know for sure AND we would need to look at the 990 as we do for any first time donor. He stressed that they want confidentially and I told him what Joyce told me - that it would not need to be reported in the public part of the 990 but it would need to be reported to the IRS, including the name of the donating institution. He had questions on all of the above which I said I simply don't have the expertise to answer but that one of our lawyers could. He repeated again that they want to deliver the check. I said that's very generous but we really need to sort out these issues first. He said is there a problem - and I said I don't know till we can see the 990. He seemed a bit worried that there was some subtext to our hesitation."

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NRA

James O'Keefe Releases Second Secret NPR Recording

Benjy Sarlin | March 10, 2011, 6:57PM

James O'Keefe

Update: NPR has released emails corroborating its claims in this story.

James O'Keefe has posted to his Project Veritas website a second recording of conversations between his group of pranksters posing as Muslim potential NPR donors and NPR executive Betsy Lilely, NPR's director of institutional giving.

In a recorded phone call uploaded as a YouTube video, Liley, already on administrative leave over her comments in the first O'Keefe video, discusses with a member of O'Keefe's gang how he might proceed in making a donation of $5 million. The video -- dubbed with audio of the phone call -- repeats for emphasis the portions of the call in which Liley seems to suggest that NPR can keep the group's donations anonymous from the government.

"It sounded like you're saying that NPR would be able to shield us from a government audit, is that correct?" the actor, posing as "Ibrahim Kasaam" of the fictitious Muslim Education Action Center, says at one point.

"I think that is the case, especially if you were anonymous and I can inquire about that."

The two discuss the process behind anonymous donations in detail over the course of the phone call, with Liley assuring that such donations are only known by a handful of top NPR executives.

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James O'Keefe

Does James O'Keefe Have a PBS Video Too?

Benjy Sarlin | March 10, 2011, 9:32AM

James O'Keefe

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting might still not have hit bottom in the James O'Keefe hidden camera scandal as evidence emerges that PBS might have fallen prey to the same prank.

A spokeswoman for PBS told the New York Times' Media Decoder blog that their senior vice president for development, Brian Reddington, had met with the same phony Muslim group that lured NPR executives into a trap with talk of a $5 million donation. Given the impact of the NPR tape, which forced resignations from both CEO Vivian Schiller and the executive captured on camera, Ron Schiller (no relation to Vivian), the prospect of another video featuring PBS execs could be a giant shoe waiting to drop.

According to the Times, PBS doesn't know if they've been taped or not, but given O'Keefe's MO it seems a very strong possibility. The PBS rep said that their executives were not fooled by the so-called Muslim Education Action Council, however, and came out of their meeting with "profound concerns about the organization." After a closer review of the group's legitimacy they broke off communication.

James O'Keefe

NPR Exec Loses NEXT Job Over James O'Keefe Video

Benjy Sarlin | March 9, 2011, 11:40AM

Already forced to resign from NPR over his remarks in a hidden camera prank by James O'Keefe, former NPR Foundation president Ron Schiller took another tough hit to his career on Wednesday, losing his next job as well.

Schiller was already set to leave NPR for a position with the Aspen Institute before the scandal broke out, but the Aspen Institute announced today that the departing NPR exec will be jumping ship without a life raft.

"Ron Schiller has informed us that, in light of the controversy surrounding his recent statements, he does not feel that it's in the best interests of the Aspen Institute for him to come work here," a statement from the nonprofit read.

James O'Keefe

James O'Keefe Skips Breitbart For NPR Hit

Benjy Sarlin | March 9, 2011, 11:10AM

James O'Keefe and Andrew Breitbart

James O'Keefe, whose hidden camera outfit Project Veritas claimed another major scalp today with the resignation of NPR CEO Vivian Schiler, departed from his usual symbiotic relationship with conservative media guru Andrew Breitbart in releasing his latest project.

As Mediaite notes, some observers are questioning if this reveals fissures between the two. O'Keefe posted his famous ACORN videos to Breitbart's "Big Government" but gave news site The Daily Caller first crack at his latest video. Breitbart turned on O'Keefe in the press last year after a colleague of O'Keefe's revealed to the press that the conservative filmmaker was planning an elaborate prank in which he would lure a CNN reporter onto a boat with a hidden camera and attempt to seduce her.

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NPR

NPR CEO Vivian Schiller Resigns Over James O'Keefe Video

Benjy Sarlin | March 9, 2011, 9:54AM

Former CEO of National Public Radio Vivian Schiller

NPR President and CEO Vivian Schiller resigned from the news organization Wednesday morning in response to a hidden camera prank targeting NPR Foundation president Ron Schiller, adding another high-profile notch to James O'Keefe's belt.

"The Board accepted Vivian's resignation with understanding, genuine regret and great respect for her leadership of NPR these past two years," read a statement from NPR Board Chairman Dave Edwards.

Ron Schiller (no relation to Vivian), president of the NPR Foundation, had already submitted his resignation on Tuesday evening after the network had placed him on leave and released a statement saying they were "appalled" by his behavior on a tape with a group of phony prospective donors slamming Tea Partiers, nodding politely as conspiracy theories about Jews in the media were floated, and suggesting NPR would be better off without federal funding. Another NPR executive in the video, Betsy Liley, director of institutional giving, is also on administrative leave.

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James O'Keefe

NPR Puts Ron Schiller On Ice After James O'Keefe Video

Benjy Sarlin | March 8, 2011, 6:01PM

James O'Keefe

NPR is still managing the fallout from a hidden camera prank by James O'Keefe's Project Veritas, but the station is making it clear they're not happy with the executive caught on film, NPR Foundation president Ron Schiller.

According to NPR spokeswoman Dana Davis Rehm, Schiller has been placed on administrative leave in response to the incident. She added in an e-mailed statement that his already-announced decision to leave NPR for a job at the Aspen Institute was unrelated to the O'Keefe video and that the public broadcaster had been informed of the move before the fateful lunch meeting with a fake Muslim group.

"His resignation was announced publicly last week, and he was expected to depart in May," Rehm said. "While we review this situation, he has been placed on administrative leave."

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Eric Cantor

Eric Cantor Slams NPR Over O'Keefe Prank

Benjy Sarlin | March 8, 2011, 4:57PM

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA)

Republicans are seizing on James O'Keefe's hidden camera prank against NPR executives to bolster their calls to defund the news organization. Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) became the highest ranking lawmaker to weigh in on Tuesday, putting out a press release slamming the "disturbing" video that featured NPR Foundation president Ron Schilling calling Tea Partiers "seriously racist," remaining silent while a fake Muslim group accused Jews of controlling the media, and suggesting that NPR might be better off with out federal funding.

"As we continue to identify ways to cut spending and save valuable resources, this disturbing video makes clear that taxpayer dollars should no longer be appropriated to NPR," Cantor said in a statement. "Not only have top public broadcasting executives finally admitted that they do not need taxpayer dollars to survive, it is also clear that without federal funds, public broadcasting stations self-admittedly would become eligible for more private dollars on top of the multi-million dollar donations these organizations already receive."

In the video Schiller says that NPR might "better off in the long-run without federal funding," since it would allow them to become more independent. The House passed a bill last month that would cut off NPR's funding and Senate Republicans recently introduced similar legislation as well.

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James O'Keefe

Tea Party Patriots Rally Against NPR After O'Keefe Video

Benjy Sarlin | March 8, 2011, 1:33PM

James O'Keefe

The Tea Party Patriots, an umbrella group for state and local Tea Party groups around the country, is rallying its supporters against NPR in response to hidden camera footage of an NPR executive, Ron Schiller, describing the movement's members as "seriously, seriously racist people."

The video was filmed by James O'Keefe's group, Project Veritas, and featured the group's members having lunch with Schiller while posing as a phony Muslim advocacy group interested in donating $5 million to NPR. In addition to his comments on the Tea Party, Schiller is shown in the video saying that NPR does not need federal funding, which the Patriots argue demonstrates that House Republican efforts to cut the news organization's funds are on the mark.

"Mr. Schiller himself candidly admits in the video that NPR doesn't need federal funding, and welcomes the opportunity to slant their reporting without the oversight of the taxpayer," Mark Meckler, national coordinator for Tea Party Patriots wrote in an e-mail to supporters today. "At a time when the country is upside down by more than a trillion dollars, can we really afford to provide huge subsidies to entities that openly state that they don't need the money? Let's take his advice and pass legislation that would defund the clearly biased news organization that is out of touch with Americans across the country."

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James O'Keefe

NPR 'Appalled' By Exec Ron Schiller's Comments in James O'Keefe Video

Benjy Sarlin | March 8, 2011, 10:44AM

James O'Keefe

NPR has its first response out to James O'Keefe's latest stunt, a hidden camera video featuring a phony Muslim advocacy group discussing a possible donation, and they are not happy with how their executive handled himself in the film.

"We are appalled by the comments made by [NPR foundation president] Ron Schiller in the video, which are contrary to what NPR stands for," David Folkenflik, NPR media correspondent, posted on Twitter, attributing the comments to the news organization.

NPR added: "The fraudulent org... in this video repeatedly pressed us to accept a $5m check, w no strings attached, which we repeatedly refused."

Schiller, who had already accepted a new job at the Aspen Institute, was not leaving because of the video, the network said, adding he was "surprised" by its emergence.

In the video, posted this morning by O'Keefe's Project Veritas, Schiller criticizes the Tea Party movement as "seriously, seriously racist people" and remains largely silent as phony members of the Muslim group denounce Jewish and Zionist control of media.

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James O'Keefe

NPR Punked By James O'Keefe In Muslim Brotherhood Stunt

Benjy Sarlin | March 8, 2011, 10:22AM

James O'Keefe

James O'Keefe's organization has put up what they claim is hidden camera footage of NPR executives slamming the Tea Party over lunch at a Georgetown restaurant with O'Keefe's pranksters, who were posing as a phony Muslim advocacy group interested in donating to NPR.

In the video released by O'Keefe's "Project Veritas," Ron Schiller, president of the NPR foundation, delivers a laundry list of liberal complaints against the Tea Party and remains quiet as the fake donors complain about Jewish control of the media. A spokeswoman for NPR confirmed to TPM that Schiller is the person in the video but did not offer additional information at this time.

"They're seriously, seriously racist people," Schiller says of the Tea Party at one point.

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Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood Fires Employee Who Helped Pro-Lifer Posed As Pimp

Rachel Slajda | February 2, 2011, 3:43PM

Planned Parenthood has fired an employee who apparently advised a man pretending to be a pimp to underage girls and illegal immigrants. The New Jersey attorney general is also investigating.

The firing stems from an undercover video released by the anti-abortion, anti-Planned Parenthood group LiveAction. LiveAction staged visits to eight Planned Parenthood clinics this month, including the Central New Jersey clinic shown in the video, during which an activist pretended to be a pimp. He told employees that he "managed girls," including 14- and 15-year-olds and illegal immigrants, and wanted to know how to get them tested for sexually transmitted diseases and potentially get abortions without alerting authorities.

In the video, a manager at the clinic appears to advise the man and a female companion on how to avoid scrutiny by having the girls lie about their age or go to another non-Planned Parenthood clinic altogether.

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Planned Parenthood

Planned Parenthood: FBI Investigation Underway Over Potential Sex Ring Hoax

Rachel Slajda | January 27, 2011, 10:13AM

James O'Keefe and Lila Rose

The FBI has begun investigating a series of incidents in which a man told Planned Parenthood clinics around the country that he was running an underage sex trafficking ring, according to a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood.

The FBI has been interviewing people at the clinics -- a total of eight spread out over five states and D.C. -- over the past two days, the spokeswoman tells TPM. She said Planned Parenthood has been giving law enforcement all the information they have.

The FBI did not return a request for comment.

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Planned Parenthood

Is It An Underage Sex Slave Ring, Or A Hoax? Either Way, Planned Parenthood Calls The FBI

Rachel Slajda | January 25, 2011, 2:19PM

James O'Keefe and Lila Rose

In the course of five days this month, eight Planned Parenthood clinics in five states and D.C. reported getting the same visit: A man said he needed treatment for a sexually transmitted disease and then, once alone with a staff member, implied that he ran an interstate sex trafficking ring that involves minors and illegal immigrants.

The Planned Parenthood Federation of America thinks that the visits, which happened between Jan. 11 and 15, are part of a James O'Keefe-style "sting." But the group called in the FBI anyway.

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Alissa Ploshnick

NJ Teacher Punked By O'Keefe: 'I Felt Like I Was Raped' (VIDEO)

Eric Lach | November 15, 2010, 6:19PM

James O'Keefe

The New Jersey teacher stung by James O'Keefe's latest "investigation" is speaking out.

"I think it's so unfair that I should be in the middle of this,'' 38-year-old Passaic special education teacher Alissa Ploshnick told New Jersey's Star-Ledger in an interview. "I'm not the monster I've been made out to be.''

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James O'Keefe

O'Keefe On CNN Punk: I Liked The Idea, But There Weren't Any Fuzzy Handcuffs

Rachel Slajda | October 4, 2010, 4:01PM

James O'Keefe

Right-wing activist James O'Keefe has released a statement on his planned CNN "punk," admitting that he liked the idea but contending that he wasn't going to go through with it as planned.

"There were no mirrors, sex tapes, blindfolds, fuzzy handcuffs, posters of naked women, or music," O'Keefe said. "Sorry, you were not going to see my face saying the words 'Bubble Headed Beach Blonde who comes on at 5' into a video camera."

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Andrew Breitbart

Breitbart: O'Keefe Sex Stunt 'Patently Gross And Offensive'

Ryan J. Reilly | October 2, 2010, 10:18AM

James O'Keefe and Andrew Breitbart

Andrew Breitbart stood behind James O'Keefe when he was accused of entering Sen. Mary Landrieu's office under false pretenses. He backed O'Keefe's ACORN investigation. But O'Keefe's latest botched plan to lure a CNN reporter onto a boat to seduce her? Breitbart wants no part in that.

Though he didn't respond to TPM's request for comment this week, Breitbart put out a statement distancing himself from O'Keefe's latest stunt late Friday, stating that O'Keefe owed his supporters an explanation.

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James O'Keefe

Has Breitbart Forsaken His Protege James O'Keefe?

Rachel Slajda | September 30, 2010, 3:25PM

James O'Keefe and Andrew Breitbart

When James O'Keefe dressed up like a telephone repairman and started poking around with Sen. Mary Landrieu's (D-LA) phone system, breaking the law, Andrew Breitbart -- who backed O'Keefe's ACORN stings -- stood by him. He said Big Government had nothing to do with O'Keefe's stunt, of course, but he also defended O'Keefe, gave him a platform from which to make a public statement and continued to pay him for his contributions to the BigGovernment site.

But not this time around, as O'Keefe finds himself the subject of condemnation from the right for apparently plotting to "punk" CNN by luring a reporter onto his boat and seducing her.

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James O'Keefe

O'Keefe And The Gang: The Young Conservatives Who Tried To Punk CNN

Rachel Slajda | September 29, 2010, 4:58PM

James O'Keefe

When CNN reporter Abbie Boudreau flew to Maryland to meet with James O'Keefe, she thought she was meeting him in his office to talk about a documentary she was working on about young conservatives. Instead, she found herself at his house, where his organization's executive director was near tears as she warned Boudreau that O'Keefe was trying to lure her onto his boat in order to seduce her in front of hidden cameras in order to "punk" CNN.

Boudreau left, and CNN ran the story today. We already know plenty about the main character: O'Keefe is the Andrew Breitbart protege who secretly filmed meetings between himself, posing as a pimp, and ACORN employees. The videos were a big part of what caused ACORN's demise as a national organization that helped low- and middle-income families find housing and register to vote. He also pleaded guilty earlier this year with three friends to charges of entering government property under false pretenses, after the four posed as telephone repairmen and videotaped themselves fiddling with the phones in Sen. Mary Landrieu's office.

But who were his alleged co-conspirators, who CNN says O'Keefe emailed with about the plan?

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CNN

Ambush Filmmaker O'Keefe Tried To 'Punk,' 'Seduce' CNN Reporter

Rachel Slajda | September 29, 2010, 10:21AM

James O'Keefe

James O'Keefe, the young conservative activist who secretly recorded meetings with ACORN and was convicted in May of entering Sen. Mary Landrieu's office under false pretenses, allegedly tried to "punk" CNN reporter Abbie Boudreau by luring her on to a boat and seducing her.

CNN reports on the scheme today, a few days before airing a documentary on O'Keefe and other young conservatives called "Right on the Edge." The incident happened in August, when Boudreau was working on the documentary.

[TPM SLIDESHOW: Ambush 'Filmmaker' James O'Keefe: From The ACORN Sting To Failed CNN Punking]

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Landrieu Phone-Tampering Scandal

O'Keefe Pleads Guilty In Landrieu Phone-Tampering Case, Gets Three Years Probation

Justin Elliott | May 26, 2010, 12:29PM

James O'Keefe

Conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe and three compatriots today pleaded guilty to entering real property belonging to the United States under false pretenses for the January incident in which they entered Sen. Mary Landrieu's New Orleans office and claimed to be from the telephone company, the Times-Picayune reports.

O'Keefe was sentenced to three years of probation, a fine of $1,500 and 100 hours of community service. The others -- Stan Dai, Joseph Basel, and Robert Flanagan -- got the same fine, two years of probation, and 75 hours of community service.

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Landrieu Phone-Tampering Scandal

Charges Reduced Against O'Keefe In Landrieu Case

Justin Elliott | March 26, 2010, 3:36PM

James O'Keefe

Charges have been reduced against activist filmmaker James O'Keefe and the three other men charged in the alleged Landrieu phone tampering case, the Justice Department announced today.

The four men "were charged in a one-count bill of information with entering real property of the United States under false pretenses, a misdemeanor," the DOJ announced in a press release today. Read the bill of information here.

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