Impact of Project Veritas videos on the 2016 election
Election law expert Elliot Berke provides insight
Donald Trump’s campaign charged Monday that new undercover video shot by a conservative activist proves Hillary Clinton “directly” coordinated with a liberal group that’s been accused of inciting violence at Trump rallies.
The latest video from Project Veritas allegedly showed a Democratic operative – who previously had been linked to individuals accused of planting provocateurs at Trump events – bragging about receiving orders from Clinton to deploy Donald Duck-suited protesters to Trump events.
“In a totally disqualifying act that is a violent threat to our democracy, Hillary Clinton directly involved herself in inciting violence directed at Trump supporters,” Trump senior communications adviser Jason Miller said in a statement, demanding an investigation.
DEMOCRATIC OPERATIVES LOSE JOBS AFTER UNDERCOVER VIDEO COMMENTS
The third Project Veritas video, released Monday, shows how the plan came together to have an activist in a duck costume follow Trump with a sign reading, “Donald ducks releasing his tax returns.” The footage features Democracy Partners head Robert Creamer suggesting the plot came from the Democratic presidential nominee herself.
“And in the end, it was the candidate, Hillary Clinton, the future president of the United States, who wanted ducks on the ground. So, by God, we will get ducks on the ground,” Creamer says in the video.
He quickly adds: “Don’t repeat that to anybody.”
There's no evidence that the duck stunt incited anyone to violence, despite the Trump campaign statement.
However, the video points to alleged collaboration between the Clinton camp and the group tied a separate purported incitement scheme disclosed in the first two Project Veritas videos released last week.
“It’s what we would call unethical, illegal, dirty tricks,” former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said on “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday. “It’s like paying people to break up Trump rallies and beat people up, and then have the press report for two months that Trump has violent rallies when in fact they people were paid for by Hillary Clinton and the DNC.”
Democrats reject such claims. Brad Woodhouse, president of Americans United for Change who was shown in a clip from the recent video, told Fox News the groups coordinate – but it’s completely legal.
“Oftentimes when these videos are released, they reflect not a true representation of that person’s views but rather distort that person’s views in a way that make it actually more difficult to understand what they’re talking about,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday.
The Clinton campaign in a statement to Fox News rejected the assertion it was behind any so-called "dirty tricks."
"Regardless of context, the campaign does not condone inciting violence and rejects the discussion of it even as a theory or proposal that was never executed," spokesman Zac Petkanas said.
Democratic National Committee interim Chairwoman Donna Brazile also distanced the party when the first videos were released, saying the practices discussed “do not in any way comport with our long standing policies on organizing events, and those statements and sentiments do not represent the values that the Committee holds dear.”
The fallout from the earlier Veritas videos has claimed both Creamer and one of his cohorts. Creamer announced last week he was “stepping back” from efforts to elect Clinton. National Field Director of Americans United for Change Scott Foval, a sub-contractor of Creamer’s group who eagerly described ‘bussing’ practices and placing agitators at Trump events in the first video, was booted from his job as well.
In Monday’s video, Creamer is shown twice describing how the Donald Duck plan was conceived – and supposedly approved by Clinton. Creamer said he was initially not wild about the concept, given that “it’s not easy to find Donald Duck costumes for adults.” But once he got his marching orders, he got his ducks in a row.
“Hillary just loved it,” Creamer says during another point in the video.
The videos were produced by James O’Keefe, a controversial activist who’s come under fire in the past for heavily editing and manipulating his recordings. Some of his tactics have also been called into question. O’Keefe was arrested trying to gain access to Sen. Mary Landrieu’s office in Louisiana in 2010 and later sentenced to three years’ probation after being charged with a misdemeanor.
"James O'Keefe is a discredited right wing fringe activist, paid by Donald Trump's sham foundation, with a history of offering misleading video out of context," Petkanas said.
FoxNews.com's Cody Derespina contributed to this report.
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