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.

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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