James Edward O'Keefe III (born June 28, 1984) is an American
conservative political activist and provocateur. He produces secretly
recorded undercover audio and video encounters in academic,
governmental, and social service organizations, purporting to show
abusive or illegal behavior by employees and/or representatives of
those organizations. He has selectively edited videos to misrepresent
the context of the conversations and the subjects' responses, creating
the false impression that people said or did things they did
not.O’Keefe gained national attention for his selectively edited
video recordings of workers at Association of Community Organizations
for Reform Now (ACORN) offices in 2009, his arrest and guilty plea in
2010 for entering the federal office of then-U.S. Senator Mary
Landrieu (D-LA) under false pretenses, and the release of misleading
videos of conversations with two high-ranking, now former, NPR
executives in 2011.When his videos portraying ACORN workers seemingly
aiding a couple in criminal planning hit the 24-hour cable news cycle,
the U.S. Congress quickly voted to freeze funds for the non-profit.
The national controversy resulted in the non-profit also losing most
of its private funding before investigations of the videos concluded
no illegal activity occurred. In March 2010, ACORN was close to
bankruptcy and had to close or rename most of its offices. Shortly
thereafter, the California State Attorney General's Office and the US
Government Accountability Office released their related investigative
reports. The Attorney General's Office found that O'Keefe had
misrepresented the actions of ACORN workers in California and that the
workers had not broken any laws. A preliminary probe by the GAO found
that ACORN had managed its federal funds appropriately. One of the
fired ACORN workers sued O'Keefe for invasion of privacy; O'Keefe
issued an apology and agreed to pay $100,000 in a settlement.
conservative political activist and provocateur. He produces secretly
recorded undercover audio and video encounters in academic,
governmental, and social service organizations, purporting to show
abusive or illegal behavior by employees and/or representatives of
those organizations. He has selectively edited videos to misrepresent
the context of the conversations and the subjects' responses, creating
the false impression that people said or did things they did
not.O’Keefe gained national attention for his selectively edited
video recordings of workers at Association of Community Organizations
for Reform Now (ACORN) offices in 2009, his arrest and guilty plea in
2010 for entering the federal office of then-U.S. Senator Mary
Landrieu (D-LA) under false pretenses, and the release of misleading
videos of conversations with two high-ranking, now former, NPR
executives in 2011.When his videos portraying ACORN workers seemingly
aiding a couple in criminal planning hit the 24-hour cable news cycle,
the U.S. Congress quickly voted to freeze funds for the non-profit.
The national controversy resulted in the non-profit also losing most
of its private funding before investigations of the videos concluded
no illegal activity occurred. In March 2010, ACORN was close to
bankruptcy and had to close or rename most of its offices. Shortly
thereafter, the California State Attorney General's Office and the US
Government Accountability Office released their related investigative
reports. The Attorney General's Office found that O'Keefe had
misrepresented the actions of ACORN workers in California and that the
workers had not broken any laws. A preliminary probe by the GAO found
that ACORN had managed its federal funds appropriately. One of the
fired ACORN workers sued O'Keefe for invasion of privacy; O'Keefe
issued an apology and agreed to pay $100,000 in a settlement.
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