So much fail, so little time:
Conservative undercover journalist James O’Keefe has released the second in an ongoing series of videos inside Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. The latest from Project Veritas Action accuses the Democratic front-runner’s director of marketing and FEC compliance director of breaking the law and allowing a Canadian tourist to launder money for campaign swag.
There are just two catches. One: No one’s ever thrown the book at an American for purchasing merchandise from a campaign, then giving it to a foreigner as a gift. Two: The person who takes the Canadian’s money and gives it to the Clinton campaign is the Project Veritas Action journalist. The Clinton campaign, which has leaked evidence of other PVA stings to journalists, is gleefully brushing this one off.
The video, which will be unveiled by O’Keefe at a news conference today, reports on what happened when an undercover PVA reporter went to the merchandise line at Hillary Clinton’s campaign launch. According to O’Keefe, the reporter simply happened to be near a woman from Montreal who encountered a problem when trying to buy some trinkets.
“She’s Canadian and so we can’t take it,” says Molly Barker, the director of marketing for the campaign.
“Do you have a green card or U.S. passport?” asks Erin Tibe, the campaign’s compliance manager.
“No, why would I?” says the tourist. “I’m Canadian.”
Tibe explains the law. “We can’t take contributions from anyone that is not a citizen of the United States,” she says.
At this point, the PVA journalist interjects on behalf of the Canadian.
So even if a law was broken, it was the Project Veritas buffoon who is guilty.
Simply amazing.
schrodinger's cat
Is this you, when you were little?
Baud
So what you’re saying is that we should expect this to be discussed for the next six weeks on Morning Joe
Baud
@schrodinger’s cat:
Cole was never “little.”
Yatsuno
So how selectively edited is Our Little Felon’s video?
beltane
Were any pimp suits involved in the making of this video?
El Caganer
Did he catch anybody selling Benghazi fetus parts?
JDM
And O’Keefe, his accomplices (is she actually even Canadian, for instance; an apropos question since O’Keefe has the lost civil suit and criminal conviction to demonstrate that he’s dishonest) and where his money comes from should be the story in the media.
It isn’t, is it?
Belafon
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/james-okeefe-hillary-video:
JohnK
four labs and a baby, lots of poop to pick up, sure. But i don’t get the 30 day trust thing. duh?
WereBear
Right wing money has created so many bizarre careers.
Baud
@Belafon:
Wow. When you’ve lost the Village in an attack on Hillary….
Schlemazel
@Baud:
Anyone who watches that asshole deserves it.
Betty Cracker
I saw a clip of O’Keefe’s surreal press conference today. He was like a begrimed toddler demanding that a group of finicky strangers look at the poopy he made in his special pot. He couldn’t seem to grasp that no one else was impressed.
If anyone loved O’Keefe, they’d steer him toward a more suitable career. With extensive training, he might make a reasonably competent driveway sealent applier or dryer lint removal technician. But no one loves him enough to sit him down and explain how much he sucks at producing gotcha videos, even for a half-wit audience. It’s sad.
schrodinger's cat
@Baud: This baby does look rather well fed but cute, very cute.
redshirt
@Baud:
Where there’s smoke there’s fire!
redshirt
Do you own Mad Max: Fury Road?
It’s available today. Best movie of the year and for me, best movie of the last 20.
jl
@JDM: FYWP seems to have eaten my reply, so apologies in advance if duplicate appears.
But briefly, I did read a story about this stunt that said O’Keefe said he never verified or even obtained the ID of the Canadian, and he wouldn’t even reveal the ID of his own operative who made the purchase, claiming they were both a ‘reporter’ and a ‘source’, and which then discussed the implications for the credibility of this scumbag’s tale.
seaboogie
@WereBear: Word. As much as they hate paying taxes, they have endless shekels to fund the propulgation of their insanity. I sense a virus at work here. Something that attacks the prions that fuels stupidity and anger in equal measure.
seaboogie
@Betty Cracker: Ya gots ta feed the slavering half-wit conspiracy machine…Alex Jones can’t do it all by his lonesome – plus next generation with tech savvy and all ;-)
ThresherK (GPad)
@Belafon: Bout fcking time OKeefe got this treatment. Even the WaPo isn’t biting.
Scamp Dog
@JohnK: I think the idea is that the baby has successfully infiltrated the pack of dogs by spending a month pooping everywhere, like they do. Hopefully they’re good dogs and just poop outside.
Not hugely funny, necessarily, but it made me smile.
Amir Khalid
@JohnK:
Is joke: baby is on secret mission to infiltrate the pack of Labs.
@Betty Cracker:
Who is it that’s still sponsoring O’Keefe’s misguided attempts at investigative journalism? Is he collecting donations from his fellow misguided, or does he have a patron?
Arm The Homeless
@redshirt:
Got mine afer work.
Despite my burning distaste for Walmart, I love my Vudu account. Every BluRay I own is now available streaming, and I didn’t have to fight with Handbrake to get the encoding right for all my devices.
I hope someday that someone less skeevy buys Vudu out, until then, “what a wonderful day”
katie5
@JDM: Check her for bagels. If the bagels are shaped like hockey pucks then she’s a Montrealer.
Mike G
@Betty Cracker:
Being a right-wing attack dog, like being a Christian pop singer, means never having to answer for lack of talent.
JDM
@katie5:
Ask her to order beer for a table of five; if she says “5 beers” instead of “5 beer”, it’s a tell.
Betty Cracker
@Arm The Homeless: Ew, I didn’t know Walmart owns Vudu. Glad you told me before I purchased anything from them.
Jack the Second
“Undercover Bother”
katie5
Will this video be covered for months? I’m currently reading Recurrent Fury: Conspiratorial Discourse in the Blogosphere Triggered by Research on the Role of Conspiracist Ideation in Climate Denial, which synthesizes six characteristics of conspiricists: The third one is “nihilistic skepticism”:
No amount of evidence to the contrary can work. The article is mesmerizing even as it’s depressing.
katie5
@JDM: Or if she wants to go out for “a” coffee instead of going out for coffee.,,,
Arm The Homeless
@Betty Cracker:
We have stopped renting from them, but the Vudu app is far superior to anything Flixster is putting out.
Next year when I replace my laptop I am going to bite the bullet and rip all my movies into MKV and setup a Plex movie server.
jl
O’Keefe needs to step it up to higher level of incompetence. He should enter the GOP presidential primary. Crusading reporter uncovering corruption by night, presidential candidate by day, or vice versa, or both.
Imagine O’Keefe donning a clever disguise, say, as a Saudi Arabian sheik, buying a Hillary mug from HRC herself, for $25 million. And BOOM, O’Keefe whips off his disguise, and BOOM, HRC is stone cold busted and BOOM O’Keefe turns it into a campaign appearance and does a press conference!
And, reporters would be afraid of appearing partisan if they questioned his nonsensical BS in any way.
President O’Keefe, has a nice ring to it.
hellslittlestangel
“No, why would I?” says the tourist. “I’m Canadian.”
Needs more *winkwink*.
jl
@hellslittlestangel: And people are laughing at Walker’s Canadian wall. We need one, because then this kind of outrageous election fraud that threatens our way of life could not happen.
Peale
So…how much money was actually “laundered?”
Mike J
@efgoldman: At least we got an entertaining movie out of it.
Peale
@Peale: jeebus. $75 for a sweatshirt. The issues raised here are troubling, troubling indeed.
Mike J
@Peale: Have you seen what PBS gets for a totebag?
You don’t buy totebags from PBS or sweatshirts from campaigns. You donate and might get something back.
jl
@efgoldman:
” in return for various political favors.”
But, they didn’t score any campaign swag, did they? No no my friend, this is bigger, deeper, more dangerous. The few FBI agents willing to risk their lives to bring down the Clinton Gang would be in over their heads. This is a job for GOP Presidential Candidate / intrepid muckraker O’Keefe.
Anoniminous
@katie5:
Cognitive Dysfunction “in the wild” is something I have to keep on top of, thank you for the link.
Major Major Major Major
OT:
I had a quip!
Major Major Major Major
@efgoldman: I didn’t say I remembered anything before 4pm.
Keith P.
@redshirt: WITNESS!
NotMax
In NY 15½ flight became over 21 hours.Don’t ask.
divF
@NotMax:
I hate when that happens. 21 hours in transit and you feel like been the guest of honor at a mugging.
PurpleGirl
Going to bed early tonight, folks. See you all tomorrow.
RaflW
FYWP – eaten two comments in a row, dammit. Totally gone, not even in moderation.
Anyway, VPA con artist should be booked for criminal activity.
And for goodness sakes WaPo, those folks are are not journalists. I mean, our current media is pretty crappy. But PVA is a marginally legal stalking operation, not journalism. Sheesh.
Gin & Tonic
@NotMax: Good thing it’s the city that never sleeps.
WaterGirl
@Major Major Major Major: You are here so I assume all went well today. Looks like I can go to bed now!
NotMax
@Gin & Tonic
Suppose it is some kind of karrnic balance that on each of the legs (Maui – L.A., L.A. – NY), the seat immediately next to me was empty.
Still. 90 minutes on the tarmac in Maui awaiting take-off, not cool. Totally blew the connecting flight.
Major Major Major Major
@WaterGirl: they stuck me in a tube again but so far no knives involved
See what happens tomorrow
SiubhanDuinne
@Major Major Major Major:
We have been thinking of you and wishing you well.
divF
@Major Major Major Major:
I’m hoping you mean “they stuck a tube in me again”. I am having difficulty figuring out the meaning of the original.
ETA: Also, what SiubhanDuinne said.
Mary G
@divF: MRI machine, maybe?
divF
@Mary G:
Ah, yes. Thank you. I’ve had multiple MRIs over the few years, and they didn’t strike me as being in a tube. But I can see how they could.
slag
Was the lady Michele Bachmann? If so, definitely Canadian.
Ruckus
@NotMax:
Can’t beat it for total duration but I once was on a flight that was supposed to be 1 1/2 hr, for 11 hrs. Plane had to stop for fuel.
benw
It’s awesome how these “gotcha” videos are of people being nice and helping others. “Here, let me help you get that. Why, thank you!” Ha ha, gotcha Democrat suckers!
SFAW
@Ruckus:
I spent two weeks in Philadelphia one night.
(Sorry — an old joke from my father’s era.).
boatboy_srq
@El Caganer:
Nominated for tag line.
Mike G
@boatboy_srq:
A great punk band name.
Omnes Omnibus
Since no one else seems willing to post pet pics, I’ll offer this.
RaflW
@SFAW:
Aaaaand, the Grand Prize is two nights in Las Vegas! Second prize is three nights in Las Vegas.
Steeplejack
@Omnes Omnibus:
Ah, the iconic Beau of blessed memory. They do stay in our hearts.
Omnes Omnibus
@Steeplejack: That’s the boy. He was, I think, six when the photo was taken. He never minded posing.
Origuy
So O’Keefe has a Canadian girlfriend? Why am I not surprised?
SFAW
@RaflW:
Right thought, wrong city.
And, when I was a wee laddie, I heard “one week” and “two weeks.” But it’s all good, so to speak.
Paul in KY
@Betty Cracker: That should be on his tombstone. Hopefully soon.
Paul in KY
@benw: That’s the way they think! Being nice must be some sort of conspiracy, cause if I’m ever nice to you, watch out.
boatboy_srq
@benw: @Paul in KY: In the Prosperity Gospel / Objectivist Libertarian telling of the Good Samaritan, the traveler wasn’t Blessed (the thieves took all his belongings and beat him because he had no bodyguards and wasn’t armed), the Samaritan was wasteful and spendthrift (blew his time and resources on some unWashed unSaved lazy moocher’s healthcare and transportation), and the rabbi and the Levite were Blessed (by being mercifully spared the same fate as Jeebus was watching over them with his rod and staff and AR-15). Moral: never travel without your 2nd Amendment remedy and a strong escort, or you could wind up at the mercy of thieving vicious Other People.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: Beau!
Uncle Cosmo
O’Kreep a “muckracker”??? Try SUCKMAKER.
I spent a month in Houston one night. Many years ago in mid-August. (Anyone who has been in Houston in mid-August will understand.)
Bill Arnold
@redshirt:
In this case, “Where there’s smoke, there are mirrors”.
(credit: decades-old New Yorker cartoon)
DavidTC
I am baffled. Do the Veritas people not understand that, in order for the Clinton campaign to do something illegal, the Clinton campaign would have to have accepted money *from* the Canadian?
It is perfectly legal for someone to buy merchandise and give it to a Canadian. This would be perfectly legal even if the system was actually set up this way…and for all I know, it is! Maybe when you donate online, you can get them to send a hat to *anyone*, US citizen or not. I don’t see why not.
Hell, it’s legal for the Clinton campaign to just *give things* to Canadians.
Now, in theory, what happened *could* have been rigged into something prohibited with a tiny amount of effort on the part of Veritas. If the campaign had sold the hat to Veritas, and then the Canadian had *purchased* the hat from Veritas, and the Clinton campaign had known this would happen, this would sorta be illegal, possibly.
Of course, the hat is actually entirely irrelevant that hypothetical…if the tourist had wanted to donate, but wasn’t allowed, and Veratis had said ‘Give me that money, and I will give it to them’, in front of the campaign staff, that would obviously be illegal. As would ‘I will donate, then you pay me back’.
But, uh, that didn’t happen. And I rather suspect the campaign would have known this and refused to accept the donation in that circumstance. (In fact, I suspect that *has* happened, with Veritas eagarly taping it, only to be disappointed when the campaign said ‘no’.)
The problem arises if money goes *from* the Canadian *to* to the Clinton campaign. (And the Clinton campaign is aware of that.) That is the only problem…and it didn’t happen here.
Are Veritas people honestly so stupid they don’t understand this?
…
Yes. The answer is yes. No one needs to answer that.
Seanly
@Arm The Homeless:
Vudu is owned by Walmart? Did not know that. Wife & I just got HBO and to help recoup (or offset I guess) the cost I was going to not use Vudu anymore so I was already swearing off it.
JosieJ
@Betty Cracker:
But that would be like having given in to a toddler’s tantrums and then, years later, wondering why they’re spoiled. O’Keefe took down ACORN on the strength of videos as deceptively edited as the Planned Parenthood video. He, in fact, directly inspired the makers of the PP video. Conservatives couldn’t praise him enough, and the MSM didn’t give a shit that the videos were crap: after all, it was only some minorities that got the shaft. So why shouldn’t he expect that his latest bottom-feeding ratfcking attempt would get the same breathless reception that his others got? And why would he listen to anyone advising him to change careers now? It’s worked for him up ’til this point.
And forgive me for not giving the MSM a cookie for finally seeing through his schtick.