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==Biography==
==Biography==
O'Keefe is the elder of two children born to James E. O'Keefe Jr., a [[materials engineer]], and Deborah O'Keefe, a [[physical therapist]].<ref name="political gadfly"/><ref name="NJProfile"/> Unfortunately, his parents chose to not go through with a planned abortion and have regretted the decision ever since. His younger sister is a [[Painting|painter]] and [[sculptor]] and terribly embarrassed by her brother. He grew up in [[Bergen County, New Jersey]], in a home that was politically "conservative but not rigidly so", according to his father.<ref name="NJProfile"/> He graduated from [[Westwood Regional High School|Westwood High School]], where he showed an early interest in the arts, theater, burning ants with a magnifying glass, and [[journalism]].<ref name="NJProfile"/> He played the leading role in his high school's 2002 production of the musical ''[[George Bush: Young Republican]]''<ref name="political gadfly"/> and attained the highest rank, [[Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)|Eagle Scout]] in the [[Boy Scouts of America]].<ref name="political gadfly"/><ref name="NJProfile"/>
O'Keefe is the elder of two children born to James E. O'Keefe Jr., a [[materials engineer]], and Deborah O'Keefe, a [[physical therapist]].<ref name="political gadfly"/><ref name="NJProfile"/> His younger sister is a [[Painting|painter]] and [[sculptor]] and terribly embarrassed by her brother. He grew up in [[Bergen County, New Jersey]], in a home that was politically "conservative but not rigidly so", according to his father.<ref name="NJProfile"/> He graduated from [[Westwood Regional High School|Westwood High School]], where he showed an early interest in the arts, theater, burning ants with a magnifying glass, and [[journalism]].<ref name="NJProfile"/> He played the leading role in his high school's 2002 production of the musical ''[[George Bush: Young Republican]]''<ref name="political gadfly"/> and attained the highest rank, [[Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)|Eagle Scout]] in the [[Boy Scouts of America]].<ref name="political gadfly"/><ref name="NJProfile"/>


He attended [[Rutgers University]], where he majored in philosophy and began writing a bi-weekly column for the university's student paper, ''[[The Daily Targum]]''.<ref name="NJProfile"/> He later founded the ''[[Rutgers Centurion]]'', a conservative student newspaper with a $500 "Balance in the Media" grant from [[Leadership Institute|The Leadership Institute]] (LI), a [[non-profit organization]] that trains and places conservatives in government, politics, and the media. The Institute also gave O'Keefe books on how to start a newspaper, and hints on where to find liberal excesses on campus.<ref name="NJProfile">{{Cite news|url=http://blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/print.html?entry=/2009/09/acorn_sting_pimp_is_nj_man_who.html|title=ACORN sting 'pimp' is N.J. man who attended Rutgers University|author=Michael Rispoli|publisher=[[The Star Ledger]]|location=Newark, N.J.|date=September 17, 2009|accessdate=October 3, 2010}}</ref><ref name=Centurion>{{Cite news|publisher=[[Salon.com]]|title=My Right-Wing Degree: How I learned to convert liberal campuses into conservative havens at Morton Blackwell's Leadership Institute, alma mater of Karl Rove, Ralph Reed, Jeff Gannon and two Miss Americas|first=Jeff|last=Horwitz|date=May 25, 2005|accessdate=October 3, 2010|url=http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/05/25/blackwell}}</ref>
He attended [[Rutgers University]], where he majored in philosophy and began writing a bi-weekly column for the university's student paper, ''[[The Daily Targum]]''.<ref name="NJProfile"/> He later founded the ''[[Rutgers Centurion]]'', a conservative student newspaper with a $500 "Balance in the Media" grant from [[Leadership Institute|The Leadership Institute]] (LI), a [[non-profit organization]] that trains and places conservatives in government, politics, and the media. The Institute also gave O'Keefe books on how to start a newspaper, and hints on where to find liberal excesses on campus.<ref name="NJProfile">{{Cite news|url=http://blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impact/print.html?entry=/2009/09/acorn_sting_pimp_is_nj_man_who.html|title=ACORN sting 'pimp' is N.J. man who attended Rutgers University|author=Michael Rispoli|publisher=[[The Star Ledger]]|location=Newark, N.J.|date=September 17, 2009|accessdate=October 3, 2010}}</ref><ref name=Centurion>{{Cite news|publisher=[[Salon.com]]|title=My Right-Wing Degree: How I learned to convert liberal campuses into conservative havens at Morton Blackwell's Leadership Institute, alma mater of Karl Rove, Ralph Reed, Jeff Gannon and two Miss Americas|first=Jeff|last=Horwitz|date=May 25, 2005|accessdate=October 3, 2010|url=http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/05/25/blackwell}}</ref>

Revision as of 14:17, 10 March 2011

For the Irish politician, see James O'Keeffe. For the cardiologist, see James O'Keefe (cardiologist).
James O'Keefe
white male in his mid 20s, light complexion, blond hair, and a thin face, with three microphones from the media being held in front of him
James O'Keefe outside the U.S. Federal Building in New Orleans, Louisiana on May 26, 2010
Born
James E. O'Keefe III

(1984-06-28) June 28, 1984 (age 40)
Bergen County, New Jersey, U.S.
CitizenshipUnited States
EducationB.A. in Philosophy
Alma materRutgers University,
(2006)
Occupation(s)Speaker, videographer, muckraker, conservative activist
Years active2006–present
OrganizationProject Veritas
Known forActivism and Videography
Notable workHidden camera videos of ACORN workers (2009)
Height6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[1]
Websitewww.theprojectveritas.com

James E. O'Keefe III (born June 28, 1984) is a politically conservative American activist who garnered media attention for hidden camera videos. A graduate of Rutgers University in New Jersey, O'Keefe founded a conservative student newspaper called the Rutgers Centurion. [2]

O'Keefe came to national attention in 2006 and 2007 for undercover audio recordings indicating some workers at Planned Parenthood would help minors falsify records to receive abortions and would potentially accept donations from racists who wanted to decrease the number of African Americans in the general population.

In September 2009 he again gained the spotlight by setting off the ACORN undercover videos controversy when he released videos exposing wrongdoing by the community group ACORN.

In January 2010, O'Keefe and three other conservative activists were arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service in New Orleans, Louisiana[3] on felony charges of entering federal property with the intent of interfering with the telephone system of U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu.[4] O'Keefe was sentenced to three years' probation, 100 hours of community service, and a $1,500 fine.[5][6]

In April 2010, O'Keefe obtained a temporary job with the U.S. Census Bureau and released earth-shattering undercover videos that seemed to show a lack of concern by supervisors when O'Keefe told them he was being overpaid for three and a half hours of work he did not do during his three day training period.[7]

In September 2010, news outlets described a failed attempt by O'Keefe to lure CNN correspondent Abbie Boudreau onto a boat believed to be "filled with sexually explicit props", where he planned to make suggestive comments and "faux seduce" her while the encounter was recorded on hidden cameras.[8][9][10]

Biography

O'Keefe is the elder of two children born to James E. O'Keefe Jr., a materials engineer, and Deborah O'Keefe, a physical therapist.[11][12] His younger sister is a painter and sculptor and terribly embarrassed by her brother. He grew up in Bergen County, New Jersey, in a home that was politically "conservative but not rigidly so", according to his father.[12] He graduated from Westwood High School, where he showed an early interest in the arts, theater, burning ants with a magnifying glass, and journalism.[12] He played the leading role in his high school's 2002 production of the musical George Bush: Young Republican[11] and attained the highest rank, Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America.[11][12]

He attended Rutgers University, where he majored in philosophy and began writing a bi-weekly column for the university's student paper, The Daily Targum.[12] He later founded the Rutgers Centurion, a conservative student newspaper with a $500 "Balance in the Media" grant from The Leadership Institute (LI), a non-profit organization that trains and places conservatives in government, politics, and the media. The Institute also gave O'Keefe books on how to start a newspaper, and hints on where to find liberal excesses on campus.[12][13]

Following graduation, O'Keefe worked for a year under Ben Wetmore at LI in Arlington, Virginia, traveling to various colleges to train students how to start up independent newspapers, during this time it became apparent that O'Keefe had an interest in hidden cameras.[11][12] According to Morton Blackwell, the president and founder of LI, O'Keefe was asked to leave because, although he was enthusiastic and effective, he had an unusual attraction to Bill O'Reilly and there was a concern that his videos would imperil LI's tax exempt status.[11] Blackwell also said O'Keefe's longstanding ambition was to catch his subjects in videos "breaking the law."[12] O'Keefe, however, told the Los Angeles Times that his videos "are not supposed to necessarily show people breaking laws. They are supposed to change hearts and minds, get me attention from FOX News, and maybe even get me laid".[14]

O'Keefe attended UCLA Law School for one year.[12] He worked as a speaker and video producer, and as of 2010 had a column on Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment.com website. In January 2010 Breitbart remarked that he paid O'Keefe a salary for his "life rights".[15] In 2010 O'Keefe formed his own organization, Project Veritas, whose stated mission is "to investigate and expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions in order to achieve a more ethical and transparent society."[16]

O'Keefe described himself as an "kind of a dorky kid who apsired to be an investigative journalist with no real talent",[17] and said he follows Saul Alinsky's rule of making "the enemy live up to its own book of rules."[11] He used the Alinsky tactic of caricaturing the political and social values of his enemies by carrying them to outlandish extremes.[18] He was called a "guerrilla documentarian",[19] a "daredevil videographer",[20] a "gonzo journalist",[21] a modern-day "muckraker"[22][23] and a "guerrilla videographer".[18] O'Keefe described his politics as "progressive radical",[17] though most media coverage described him as a conservative.[24][11][25][26] O'Keefe expressed admiration for the philosophy of British writer G.K. Chesterton.[1][11][27]

"For the great Gaels of Ireland. Are the men who God made mad. For all their wars are merry, and all their songs are sad." (G.K. Chesterton).[28]

Lucky Charms video

Shortly after founding the Centurion, O'Keefe began making hidden camera videos, including one in which he and a few members of the Centurion staff attempted to have the breakfast cereal Lucky Charms banned from the campus dining halls on the grounds it was offensive to Irish-Americans.[12][29] The point of the video was to satirize oversensitivity to ethnicity at Rutgers and it was part of O'Keefe's overall effort to expose what he believed was liberal hypocrisy and absurdity.[11] According to The New York Times, O'Keefe exhibited his own "absurdist improvisational style" when he told an assistant director at Rutgers dining services that the leprechaun on the cereal box appeared to be "'an Irish-American' who is 'portrayed as a little green-cladded gnome or huckster'".[12][18] "As you can see, we’re not short and green–we have our differences of height–and we think this is stereotypical of all Irish-Americans", he added.[11] O'Keefe later said he had put the dining officials in a no-win situation; if they said yes to banning the cereal they have "gone off the deep end", but if they said no then they were being racist toward Irish-Americans.[11] Though the group of students thought they would be laughed at,[12][29] the Rutgers official took notes, and said their concerns would be considered. However, the cereal was never taken off the menu, according to a Rutgers spokesperson, and O'Keefe moved on to examine the absurdity of the dining hall serving 'jumbo shrimp'.[12]

Planned Parenthood recordings

O'Keefe helped plan and produce undercover videos with pro-life activist Lila Rose in 2006 and 2007 that showed several Planned Parenthood workers willing to circumvent state laws requiring that abortion clinics report statutory rape. The videos received national attention. O'Keefe met Rose, a UCLA student, while he was visiting the university as a Leadership Institute campus representative in 2006. With O'Keefe's support and advice Rose launched her first foray in activism at the UCLA campus health center. Soon he came up with the idea to have her pose as an underaged pregnant teenager, go to Planned Parenthood clinics for advice, and record the conversations that followed. Their expectation was that the clinics would try to get around reporting laws concerning statutory rape or engage in other illegal behavior. Seven videos resulted. In the first, a Santa Monica clinic advised Rose to "figure out a birthdate that works" and lie about her age to make her eligible for an abortion.[30] Later videos led to an effort by Tennessee lawmakers to end a $721,000 contract with the organization, and a vote by the Orange County, California Board of Supervisors to suspend a grant of nearly $300,000.[14]

O'Keefe phoned several Planned Parenthood clinics posing as a donor in 2007, specifying his gift should go to fund abortions of minorities because, as O'Keefe himself actually believes, "the less black kids out there the better."[31] Clinics in seven states reportedly agreed to accept his donation under those terms.[32] After audio recordings of the conversations were made public in 2008, Planned Parenthood apologized for the behavior of its staffers, calling it "inappropriate".[31] In a call to an Albuquerque office, O'Keefe discussed affirmative action and said there were too many black people competing with white Americans for admission to schools; the clinic's representative replied, "Yes, yes, it's a strange time for sure."[33][34] A representative of Planned Parenthood of Ohio replied, "For whatever reason we'll accept the money."[35] Planned Parenthood of Idaho's vice president, Autumn Kersey, was suspended after the recordings divulged her laughing, placating the caller by saying, "understandable, understandable" and "Excuse my hesitation, this is the first time I've had a donor call and make this kind of request, so I'm excited and want to make sure I don't leave anything out." Afterwards she attempted to have the call traced and recorded.[36]

O'Keefe's recordings led to demands by black leaders to withdraw public financing of Planned Parenthood,[37] and to a protest in Washington D.C. by African-American pastors who accused Planned Parenthood of perpetrating "genocide".[32] Alveda King, a black minister and a niece of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., who had had two abortions herself,[38] also supported the campaign.[35][37]

ACORN undercover videos

Further information: ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy

In September 2009, O'Keefe and his associate, Hannah Giles, published edited hidden camera recordings in which Giles posed as a prostitute and O'Keefe as her boyfriend in an attempt to elicit damaging responses from employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), an advocacy organization for persons of low and moderate income.[39] The videos were recorded during the summer of 2009[40] and showed low-level ACORN employees in six cities purportedly providing advice to Giles and O'Keefe on how to avoid detection by authorities of tax evasion, human smuggling and child prostitution.[11] After the videos were made public, the U.S. Congress voted to eliminate federal funding to ACORN.[41] The Census Bureau and the IRS also terminated their relationships with ACORN.[42][43] An internal ACORN investigation concluded that ACORN had poor management practices that contributed to unprofessional actions by a number of its low-level employees.[44][45][46][47][48] In March 2010, ACORN announced it would dissolve due to loss of funding from government and private sources.[49]

On March 1, 2010, the district attorney for Brooklyn concluded that there was no criminal wrongdoing by the ACORN staff there.[50][51] O’Keefe received immunity from prosecution in exchange for providing the full, unedited videotapes to California authorities.[39] An investigative report by California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. released on April 1, 2010 found the videos from Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Bernardino to be "severely edited" and did not find evidence of criminal conduct or intent to aid or abet criminal conduct on the part of ACORN employees.[39] Brown stated, "things are not always as partisan zealots portray them".[9] The California report also found that one of the employees shown as apparently aiding in O'Keefe's human smuggling proposal had reported his encounter with O'Keefe and Giles to a police detective. That employee, who was fired by ACORN after the video's release, later sued O'Keefe and Giles alleging invasion of privacy, and citing a California law that outlaws recordings without consent of all parties involved.[52] On June 14, 2010, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released its findings which found no evidence that ACORN, or any of its related organizations, had mishandled any of the $40 million in federal money which they had received in recent years.[53][54]

O'Keefe and Giles were lauded by U.S. conservatives for the ACORN videos, receiving media praise from, among others, Sean Hannity, O'Keefe dream-date Bill O'Reilly and Glenn "Crazy Ass" Beck.[citation needed] Several members of the U. S. Congress introduced a resolution praising O'Keefe and Giles' work in October 2009.[55][56]The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) considered giving O'Keefe its prestigious Reagan Award.[57]

Arrest in federal building

O'Keefe and three other conservative activists were arrested by the U.S. Marshals Service in New Orleans, Louisiana on January 25, 2010 on federal felony charges of attempting to maliciously interfere with the office telephone system of U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu and masturbating in the womens bathroom. Two of the activists had entered the federal building dressed as telephone repairmen, claiming they were responding to complaints that the phones were out of order. One of the Senator's staff members told them "that she did not report any phone problems and that the office was not experiencing any issues with the phone system."[58] They were apprehended after they attempted to gain access to the telephone equipment closet. O'Keefe was present, admittedly recording the events on his cell phone.[59] The four men were jailed and arraigned the following day on charges that carried a maximum sentence of ten years in prison followed by three years of probation, and a fine of $250,000.[3] O'Keefe and the other men were released on $10,000 bond pending further court proceedings.[60][61]

The Christian Science Monitor noted that political liberals immediately portrayed the incident as another Watergate while conservatives asked the public to hold off on judging the incident.[62] In a post-arrest interview on Fox News, O'Keefe said he entered Landrieu's office to investigate accusations she was ignoring phone calls from constituents during the health care debate.[63] According to O'Keefe, the group devised a plan involving disguises because they believed that if they simply entered Senator Landrieu’s office and identified themselves as journalists, they would likely not receive truthful answers.[64] Senator Landrieu’s office denied ever ignoring calls and pointed out that many senators' voicemail systems had been strained from a flood of calls during the most contentious weeks of the debate.[63]

Several months later, the charges were reduced from a felony to a single misdemeanor count of entering a federal building under false pretenses,[5][58][65][66] with U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. admonishing the defendants that "perceived righteousness of a cause does not justify nefarious and potentially dangerous actions."[67] Entered with his guilty plea on May 26 was a factual basis which found no "evidence that the defendants intended to commit any felony after the entry by false pretenses", and the "defendants misrepresented themselves and their purpose to orchestrate a conversation about phone calls to the Senator’s staff and capture the conversation on video, not to actually tamper with the phone system, or to commit any other felony."[58] O'Keefe was sentenced to three years' probation, 100 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine. The other three men received lesser sentences of two years' probation, 75 hours of community service and a $1,500 fine.[68] U.S. Magistrate Daniel Knowles III ordered the video footage removed from O'Keefe's cell phone before it was returned to him.[69]

2006 forum controversy

In January 2010 the anti-racist organization One People's Project noted that during his tenure at Leadership Institute, O'Keefe attended a forum called "Race and Conservatism" organized by paleoconservative Marcus Epstein of the Robert Taft Club and featuring white separatist Jared Taylor, John Derbyshire of the National Review and Kevin Martin of Project 21.[70][71] Supporters of O'Keefe have raised issues with the forum being termed a white supremacist event, citing the appearance of Martin, a black man, and the fact that Epstein, who was also working with the Leadership Institute at the time, is of Korean and Jewish decent. But the event was controversial enough for the Leadership Institute to ask it moved from its building to a nearby college law school, and at the time it was only discussed and reported on by white supremacists and those opposing them.[72] The level of O'Keefe's involvement was also in dispute, with his Breitbart.tv employer Andrew Breitbart filing griviences with anyone who reported that O'Keefe helped organize the event. To date, although much had been made of the revelation by conservative and anti-racist activists, O'Keefe has yet to speak about the forum himself, save for a statement through Breitbart's BigGovernment.com where he admitted he was there but did not assist in its organization.[73]

Census videos

O'Keefe posted a video on the Internet in June 2010 claiming that payroll fraud was occurring at Census offices.[74][75][76] He had obtained a temporary job with the 2010 Census and secretly recorded part of his training course for door-to-door census takers.[7][76] In O'Keefe's video, the supervisors apparently instruct O'Keefe and other trainees to submit time sheets for more hours than they had worked.[75] O'Keefe is seen protesting to supervisors that he had worked 16 hours at the office but was going to be paid for 19.5 hours which included a lunch break that was 40 minutes longer than the time sheets indicated.[77] The video portrayed the supervisors as unconcerned with the discrepancy,[7] even when O'Keefe pointed out the criminal penalties for filling out forms falsely.[74] O'Keefe quit on the third day of training.[76]

The Census Bureau responded that trainees are expected to work eight hour days, but that they are paid for travel time and study time to review the manuals, as well as for time spent in the office,[77] and that this policy was no different than it was when O'Keefe attended training sessions in 2009, during which time O'Keefe had not complained or made allegations.[75] The Census Bureau also said it did not condone falsifying time sheets and that it would investigate and take action if warranted.[74][75][76] A Census Bureau spokesman said that O'Keefe had quit after his criminal background check had come back;[7][75] O'Keefe said he quit due to privacy concerns.[76] The Washington Post reported that Census Bureau directives forbid the secret recording of conversations by employees.[76][78]

O'Keefe said he recorded the training sessions because he was concerned about government's misuse of taxpayer dollars and that if all the 600,000 temporary Census workers had been overpaid by just four hours, as he had been, "that's $48 million in waste".[76] In an e-mail to AOL News, O'Keefe said "I was the only one in my training group who ethically recanted the false hours I was instructed to submit early each day I worked, cause I'm just that honest, despite objection from a payroll supervisor who told me not to worry because they 'don't audit at that level.' Additionally, two supervisors instructed all of us to report our travel times as one hour, though many of us lived five minutes away from the training center. Trust me, none of those poor people (and by poor I mean free-of-money) laid off by big greedy corporations like the ones Billy O'Reilly and I support bothered to decline the extra pay. 'I have to feed my family' blah, blah, blah... that still doesn't give them the right to steal."[75]

CNN correspondent incident

In August 2010, CNN correspondent Abbie Boudreau, who was doing a documentary on young conservative activists, agreed to meet O'Keefe at his office in Maryland to discuss an upcoming video shoot of O'Keefe.[8][79] When Boudreau arrived at the address given by O'Keefe, she saw that it was a house located on a river with a boat docked behind it.[8] She was intercepted by one of O'Keefe's co-workers, Izzy Santa, who warned Boudreau that O'Keefe was planning to "punk" Boudreau on the boat by engaging in a bizarre attempt to seduce and embarrass her—which he would be filming on hidden cameras.[8][80] Santa had also expressed her concerns to a donor that day, stating "James has staged the boat to be a palace of pleasure with all sorts of props."[8] Boudreau never boarded the boat, and soon left the area.[10][81]

CNN later published a 13–page plan it had obtained, written by O'Keefe's mentor/pimp Ben Wetmore,[82] that listed the props as including pornography, sexual aids, condoms, a blindfold and "fuzzy" handcuffs.[8][10][83] According to the document, O'Keefe was instructed to record a preface to his encounter with Boudreau, during which he was to say,

"... I've been approached by CNN for an interview where I know what their angle is: they want to portray me and my friends as crazies, as non-journalists, as unprofessional and likely as homophobes, racists or bigots of some sort (which, sure, we actually are).... Instead, I've decided to have a little fun. Instead of giving her a serious interview, I'm going to punk CNN (take that Ashton Kutcher).... This bubble-headed-bleach-blonde who comes on at five will get a taste of her own medicine, she'll get seduced on camera and you'll get to see the awkwardness and the aftermath while I giggle and teehee with my pals."[8][83]

CBS News described the plan as including a way for O'Keefe to deal with potential fallout: "make sure to emphasize Abbie's name and overall status to help burden her career with this video, incident and her bad judgment in pursuing you so aggressively."[10][83] O'Keefe admitted that he attempted to get Boudreau onto the boat, but denied that he was going to follow the plan, telling CNN that he had not personally written it, that "he wasn't really going to follow through with the plan", and that he found parts of it inappropriate and objectionable.[10][79] O'Keefe also pointed to his dress and appearance on the day as further evidence that he was not following the plan.[84] Several days after the documentary aired, O'Keefe wrote that he gets outrageous plans sent to him all the time, some of which he approves of in principle, like the "CNN idea", but that he never considered using the "over-the-top language and symbolism like the Swastika tattoo on my chest" in the memo,[84] and was never going to threaten or faux seduce Boudreau, "because she'd end up laughing at my unusually small penis."[84] Boudreau commented "that does not appear to be true, according to a series of emails we obtained from Izzy Santa, who says the e-mails reveal James' true intentions."[79]

New Jersey Teachers Union Videos and Recordings

Starting on October 25, 2010, O’Keefe began posting a series of videos entitled “Teachers Unions Gone Wild,” investigating the New Jersey Education Association. The releases came as the union was locked in a struggle with New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie over teacher pay benefits and tenure.[85]

In the first video, released on October 25, 2010, O’Keefe recruited several “citizen journalists” to attend the NJEA’s week-long summer leadership conference at the New Brunswick Hilton, where they made undercover recordings of meetings and conversations with teachers.[85] The videos published highlighted footage of teachers gloating about the difficulty of firing a tenured teacher.

In a second video, also released on October 25, another "citizen-journalist" posed as a parent and called Lawrence E. Everett, assistant superintendent of the Passaic City Schools,[85][86] to ask whether a teacher would be fired for using the “n-word” against his child. Everett responded that the teacher would likely be demoted, but not fired. The assistant superintendent also offered to move the parent's child from the class.[86]

A third video released on October 26, 2010 featured audio of a voice identified as NJEA Associate Director Wayne Dibofsky alleging voter fraud during the 1997 Jersey City mayoral election.[85] Jersey City municipal clerk Robert Byrne, who was also heard talking in the same video, said that election was monitored by lawyers for both candidates.[85]

After watching the video, Governor Christie said "nothing on it surprises me".[87] However, NJEA spokesman Steve Wollmer called O'Keefe's videos a "complete fabrication" and "a calculated attack on [the NJEA] organization and its members". Wollmer said that the man who recorded Ploshnick "was offering her both romance and a glass of wine to get her to open up", and he called O'Keefe "flat-out sleazy".[87]

NPR video

In March, 2011 O'Keefe's partners Simon Templar (a nom de plume) and Shaughn Adeleye[88] secretly recorded a discussion with Ronald Schiller, National Public Radio's then-senior vice president for fundraising, and an associate. The NPR executives were told that they would be meeting with representatives of a self-described Muslim group that wished to donate money to NPR, "partly out of concern for the defunding process the Republicans are trying to engage in." On the recording, Schiller said that he would speak personally, and not for NPR; then he contrasted the fiscally conservative Republican party of old that didn't get involved in people's personal and family lives with "the current Republican Party, and in particular the Tea Party, that is fanatically involved in people's personal lives and very fundamental Christian — I wouldn't even call it Christian. It's this weird evangelical kind of move." Schiller said some highly-placed Republicans believed the Republican Party had been hijacked by this radical group, and characterized them as "Islamophobic" and "seriously racist, racist people". Later in the recording, Schiller said he believes NPR "would be better off in the long run without federal funding, and the challenge right now is that we'd have a lot of stations go dark", explaining that removal of federal funding would allow NPR more independence, and remove the widely held misconception that NPR is significantly funded by the public.

According to NPR, Schiller's comments are in direct conflict with NPR's official position and called his comments appalling. They also stated that the Muslim Brotherhood "....pressed us to accept a $5 million check with no strings attached, which we repeatedly refused to accept." Schiller had submitted his resignation on January 24, before the recorded meeting, and announced a week before the video was released that he was leaving NPR for the Aspen Institute, but he was immediately put on "administrative leave" by NPR.[89][90][91][92][93][94] The next day NPR's CEO Vivian Schiller (no relation) announced she was resigning her position, effective immediately.[95] Ronald Schiller made his resignation from NPR effective immediately on the evening of the video's release and the next day decided also to cede his new position at the Aspen Institute.[96]

References

  1. ^ a b "James O'Keefe on G.K. Chesterton and 'The Free Press'" (VIDEO). VertiasVisuals. August 12, 2010.
  2. ^ http://rucenturion.com/archive/centurion_inaugural.pdf
  3. ^ a b "Four Men Arrested for Entering Government Property Under False Pretenses for the Purpose of Committing a Felony". U.S. Department of Justice (Press release). The FBI - New Orleans Division. January 26, 2010. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  4. ^ Leonnig, Carol D.; Franke-Ruta, Garance (January 27, 2010). "James O'Keefe charged in alleged phone tampering of Senator Mary Landrieu's office". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
  5. ^ a b Ramon Antonio Vargas (May 27, 2010). "James O'Keefe remains defiant despite pleading guilty in failed Mary Landrieu office caper". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved June 6, 2010.
  6. ^ Associated Press staff reporter (May 26, 2010). "Conservative activist, 3 others plead guilty in phone caper at Sen. Mary Landrieu's office". Fox News. Associated Press. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  7. ^ a b c d Chris Vlasto, Jay Shaylor, Vanessa Weber and Sarah Netter (June 1, 2010). "Exclusive: Conservative Filmmaker James O'Keefe Goes Undercover to Target Census Bureau". ABC News. Retrieved October 3, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Zamost, Scott (September 29, 2010). "Fake pimp from ACORN videos tries to 'punk' CNN correspondent". CNN. Retrieved September 30, 2010.
  9. ^ a b "Brown Releases Report Detailing a Litany of problems with ACORN, But No Criminality". California Office of Attorney General. April 1, 2010. Retrieved April 3, 2010. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. ^ a b c d e Montopoli, Brian (September 29, 2010). "ACORN Foe James O'Keefe Sought to Embarrass CNN's Abbie Boudreau on Porn-Strewn "Palace of Pleasure" Boat". Political Hotsheet. CBS News. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Shane, Scott (September 18, 2009). "A Political Gadfly Lampoons the Left via YouTube". The New York Times. p. A9. Retrieved September 20, 2009.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Michael Rispoli (September 17, 2009). "ACORN sting 'pimp' is N.J. man who attended Rutgers University". Newark, N.J.: The Star Ledger. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  13. ^ Horwitz, Jeff (May 25, 2005). "My Right-Wing Degree: How I learned to convert liberal campuses into conservative havens at Morton Blackwell's Leadership Institute, alma mater of Karl Rove, Ralph Reed, Jeff Gannon and two Miss Americas". Salon.com. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  14. ^ a b Abcarian, Robin (April 26, 2009). "Anti-abortion movement gets a new media twist:Lila Rose, a UCLA student, goes undercover at Planned Parenthood clinics to pose as an underage girl pregnant by a 31-year-old. Her surreptitious videos go on YouTube, and inspire outrage". Article Collections. The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  15. ^ Hewitt, Hugh (January 26, 2010). "An Interview With Andrew Breitbart About The O'Keefe Arrest". HughHewett.com. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  16. ^ "About Project Veritas". TheProjectVeritas.com. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  17. ^ a b Post, Washington (January 29, 2010). "Pimp in ACORN video shares story: James O'Keefe calls himself a progressive radical and an investigative journalist without formal training. ACORN's tactics had made him angry, he says". Article collections. The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  18. ^ a b c Rutenberg, Jim; Robertson, Campbell (January 30, 2010). "High Jinks to Handcuffs for Landrieu Provocateur". The New York Times. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  19. ^ Shachtman, Noah (March 11, 2010). "How Andrew Breitbart hacks the media". WIRED. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  20. ^ AP staff (February 2, 2010). "U.S. attorney has left Landrieu phone caper case". USA Today. Associated Press. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  21. ^ Star-Ledger Staff (October 26, 2010). "Hidden video by conservative activist James O'Keefe renews NJEA, Gov. Christie dispute". Star-Ledger Today. Star-Ledger. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
  22. ^ Star-Ledger Editorial Board (October 29, 2010). "Gov. Christie shouldn't cozy up to muckraker of 'Teachers Union Gone Wild'". Star-Ledger Today. Star-Ledger. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
  23. ^ "About Project Veritas". TheProjectVeritas.com. Retrieved November 1, 2010.
  24. ^ Fears, Darryl (September 18, 2009). "The $1,300 Mission to Fell ACORN: Duo in Sting Video Say Their Effort Was Independent". The Washington Post. p. A01. Retrieved September 20, 2009. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ Whittell, Giles (September 18, 2009). "Anti-poverty group that helped Obama 'advises prostitutes'". London: The Times. Retrieved September 29, 2009.
  26. ^ Elliott, Debbie (February 4, 2010). "Debate Over Activists' Actions In Senator's Office". NPR.org. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  27. ^ Besse, Gail (March 31, 2010). "Changing the World by the Time He's 30: James O'Keefe Discusses His Undercover Videos and Acorn's Fall". National Catholic Register. Retrieved April 12, 2010.
  28. ^ Youtube: James O'Keefe, The Good-Mad Irishman, Ad maiorem Dei gloriam.'
  29. ^ a b Walker, Greg (April 17, 2005, updated February 22, 2009). "Absurdities and Ironies". Rutgers University: Daily Targum. Retrieved October 3, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  30. ^ Burchfiel, Nathan (May 16, 2007). "Planned Parenthood Threatens to Sue Undercover Activist". CNS News. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
  31. ^ a b Ryan, Josiah (July 7, 2008). "Planned Parenthood Agreed to Accept Race-Motivated Donations". CNS News. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  32. ^ a b Beaucar Vlahos, Kelley (April 24, 2008). "Pastors Accuse Planned Parenthood for 'Genocide' on Blacks". Fox News. Retrieved April 24, 2008.
  33. ^ Steven Ertelt (April 2, 2008). "More Planned Parenthood Abortion Businesses Accept Overtly Racist Donations". Life Site News. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  34. ^ LiveAction.org (April 2, 2008). New Mexico: Planned Parenthood Racism Investigation. You Tube.
  35. ^ a b CNA staff (February 28, 2008). "UCLA student sting exposes racism at Planned Parenthood". CNA. Catholic News Agency. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  36. ^ Jones, Susan (February 28, 2008). "Planned Parenthood Apologizes for Its Handling of 'Offensive Call'". CNSNews.com.
  37. ^ a b Dewan, Shaila (February 26, 2010). "To Court Blacks, Foes of Abortion Make Racial Case". New York Times. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
  38. ^ Alveda King (1/22/2008). Alveda King talking about abortion. In front of the Supreme Court building. Retrieved 10/05/2010. {{cite AV media}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  39. ^ a b c "Report of the Attorney General on the Activities of ACORN in California" (PDF). California Dept of Justice. April 1, 2010. p. 28. Cite error: The named reference "CA AG Report" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  40. ^ According to the California Attorney General's investigation report, page 8, the recordings occurred in ACORN offices in eight cities: Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Brooklyn, Miami, Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Bernardino.
  41. ^ McGreal, Chris (September 21, 2009). "Congress cuts funding to embattled anti-poverty group Acorn". The Guardian. London. Retrieved September 22, 2009.
  42. ^ "Census Bureau Drops Acorn From 2010 Effort". The New York Times. September 12, 2009.
  43. ^ AP News Wire, Associated Press News - Salon.com
  44. ^ Sharon Theimer. "Embattled ACORN orders independent investigation". Associated Press. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
  45. ^ Rutenberg, Jim (2009-09-23). "Acorn Hires Former State Law Enforcer". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
  46. ^ James, Frank (December 7, 2009). "ACORN Workers Cleared Of Illegality By Outside Probe". NPR. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  47. ^ Kaminer, Wendy (December 8, 2009). "ACORN and the Ethics of Leadership". Atlantic Monthly. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  48. ^ The Editor (Spring 2010). "NPQ on ACORN Investigation Results". The Nonprofit Quarterly. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  49. ^ Tarm, Michael (March 22, 2010). "ACORN disbanding because of money woes, scandal". ABC News. Associated Press. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  50. ^ Newman, Andrew (March 1, 2010). "Advice to Fake Pimp Was No Crime, Prosecutor Says". New York Times. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  51. ^ Madde, Mike (March 1, 2010). "Brooklyn prosecutors clear local ACORN office". Salon.com. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  52. ^ Maass, Dave (July 9, 2010). "ACORN worker sues O'Keefe and collaborators". San Diego CityBeat. Retrieved July 13, 2010.
  53. ^ John Atlas (June 15, 2010). "ACORN Vindicated of Wrongdoing by the Congressional Watchdog Office". Huffington Post. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  54. ^ The CNN Wire Staff (June 15, 2010). "Preliminary report clears ACORN on funds". CNN. Retrieved October 3, 2010. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  55. ^ Any Birkey (January 26, 2010). "Kline co-sponsored resolution honoring the 'exemplary' James O'Keefe". The Minnesota Independent.
  56. ^ H. Res. 809: Honoring the fact-finding reporting done by Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe III in their... (GovTrack.us)
  57. ^ David Weigel (January 26, 2010). "ACORN Investigator James O'Keefe Arrested". The Washington Independent. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
  58. ^ a b c "Factual Basis in United States of America v. Joseph Basel, Stan Dai, Robert Flanagan, James O'Keefe" (PDF). United States District Court Eastern District of Louisiana. May 26, 2010. p. 6.
  59. ^ Affidavit of arresting agent Steven Rayes: File:PPM145 joseph basel et al.pdf, January 25, 2010
  60. ^ Pierre Thomas & Jack Cloherty. "'Louisiana Watergate' Activist Free on Bond, Awaits Hearing: James O'Keefe Free on Bond Today After 'Sting' Operation Backfired". ABC News. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  61. ^ U.S. District Court Eastern District of Louisiana (January 26, 2010). "Order Setting Conditions of Release".
  62. ^ Jonsson, Patrik (January 28, 2010). "Four charged in incident". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
  63. ^ a b Robertson, Campbell (March 26, 2010). "4 Charged in Incident at Office of Senator". The New York Times. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  64. ^ "O'Keefe gives his side". BigJournalism.com. May 29, 2010.
  65. ^ Gerstein, Josh (March 26, 2010). "Minor charges filed in Landrieu office flap". Politico. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  66. ^ Russell, Gordon (May 20, 2010). "Handling of Mary Landrieu office caper case called very unusual". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  67. ^ Kunzelman, Michael (May 20, 2010). "Judge Chides Suspects in Sen. Landrieu Office Case: Federal judge scolds suspects in Sen. Landrieu office case, but lets magistrate resolve it". ABC News. Associate Press. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  68. ^ "Four Men Plead Guilty to Entering Federal Property Under False Pretenses Entered Senator Mary Landrieu's Office to Secretly Record Office Staff Conversations". Department of Justice Press Release. The FBI - New Orleans Division. May 26, 2010. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  69. ^ "Video gone from activist James O'Keefe used in La. caper". Associated Press. May 29, 2010. Retrieved October 17, 2010.
  70. ^ OnePeoplesProject.com "HEY JAMES O'KEEFE, ABOUT THAT WHITE RACIST FORUM YOU ATTENDED IN 2006..."
  71. ^ Salon.com "James O'Keefe's race problem"
  72. ^ VDARE.com Sept. 7, 2006 "Race And Conservatism Debated At The Robert A. Taft Club (No Thanks To The Leadership Institute)"
  73. ^ BigJournalism.com "James O’Keefe vs. Max Blumenthal: How the Left Distorts, Invents and Lies"
  74. ^ a b c "Activist Filmmaker Targets Census Bureau, Cites Payroll Fraud". Fox News. June 1, 2010. Retrieved October 4, 2010.
  75. ^ a b c d e f Andrea Stone (June 2, 2010). "Census Hits Back at Conservative Filmmaker's 'Expose'". AOL News. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  76. ^ a b c d e f g O'Keefe, Ed (June 1, 2010). "Conservative activist James O'Keefe alleges fraud by Census Bureau". The Washington Post. {{cite news}}: More than one of |work= and |newspaper= specified (help)
  77. ^ a b Haya El Nasser (June 10, 2010). "Census Bureau makes changes after sex offender hired". USA Today. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  78. ^ The Washington Post linked to this Census Bureau directive Monitoring Conversations, Effective Date: 2008-03-10
  79. ^ a b c Boudreau, Abbie (September 29, 2010). "Our Documentary Takes A Strange Detour". Special Investigations Unit. CNN. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  80. ^ Montopoli, Brian (September 29, 2010). "ACORN Foe James O'Keefe Sought to Embarrass CNN's Abbie Boudreau on Porn-Strewn "Palace of Pleasure" Boat". CBS News. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  81. ^ As of September 29, 2010 Izzy Santa reportedly remained on the Veritas Project payroll, though with no responsibilities.See, ACORN Foe James O'Keefe Sought to Embarrass CNN's Abbie Boudreau on Porn-Strewn 'Palace of Pleasure' Boat, CBS News.
  82. ^ Pareene, Alex (October 4, 2010). "James O'Keefe defends "sex boat" prank by saying it wouldn't have been that gross". Salon. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  83. ^ a b c "Punking' CNN: The following highlights the relevant portions of a 13-page document obtained by CNN outlining a plan to 'punk' CNN". CNN. September 29, 2010. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  84. ^ a b c O'Keefe, James (October 4, 2010). "Statement Regarding CNN". BigGovernment.com. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
  85. ^ a b c d e Rundquist, Jeanette and Megan DeMarco (October 27, 2010). "Video puts NJEA in hot seat". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  86. ^ a b Method, Jason (October 26, 2010). "Teacher's Union Gone Wild: James O'Keefe digs into NJEA with new 'undercover' video". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved October 28, 2010.
  87. ^ a b Hidden video by conservative activist James O'Keefe renews NJEA, Gov. Christie dispute
  88. ^ Hagey, Keach (March 8, 2011). "NPR exec: tea party is 'scary,' 'racist'". Politico.
  89. ^ Video of Ronald Schiller Veritas Project; March 8, 2011
  90. ^ What James O'Keefe's Latest Video Means for NPR Funding
  91. ^ NPR executive calls Tea Party supporters 'racist'
  92. ^ In Video: NPR Exec Slams Tea Party, Questions Need For Federal Funds
  93. ^ NPR Executive Caught Calling Tea Partiers ‘Racist’
  94. ^ NPR exec caught on tape calling Tea Partiers 'racist'
  95. ^ Mark Memmott (2011-03-09). ""NPR CEO Vivian Schiller resigns"". NPR. Retrieved 2011-03-09.
  96. ^ Russel Adama (2011-03-09). "NPR Executive Cedes New Role at Aspen Institute". WSJ.

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