Undercover video : New ‘gotcha’ moment for Hillary campaign

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic front-runner for the 2016 presidential nomination.

WASHINGTON – Activist videojournalist James O’Keefe released an undercover video Tuesday that purports to show the Democratic front-runner’s director of marketing and FEC compliance director breaking the law by letting a Canadian tourist “launder money” in order to make a campaign donation.

This latest video from Project Veritas Action, unveiled at a news conference O’Keefe held at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., shows an undercover Project Veritas journalist in the merchandise line at Hillary Clinton’s campaign-kickoff event in June.

The journalist helps a Canadian citizen make a donation to the Clinton campaign, which is against the law.

“I’d like to thank Hillary Clinton for making our job so easy,” said O’Keefe, a self-described “guerilla journalist.” “Our journalists were on a reconnaissance mission at Hillary’s campaign launch when by chance a Canadian citizen wanted to make a contribution and, as you can see in the video, Clinton’s top staffers were happy to oblige.”

The Project Veritas member approached the booth at the event on New York’s Roosevelt Island with the Canadian, who asked if she could purchase some campaign gear. The campaign staff at the booth informed her that since she was not a U.S. citizen, she could not legally contribute to the campaign.

Molly Barker, the director of marketing for the campaign was videotaped saying, “She’s Canadian and so we can’t take it.”

So, Erin Tibe, the campaign’s compliance manager, asked the woman, “Do you have a green card or U.S. passport?”

“No, why would I?” she responded. “I’m Canadian.”

After Tibe explained the law, she said, “We can’t take contributions from anyone that is not a citizen of the United States.”

The undercover Project Veritas member then volunteered to acted as an intermediary, to take the Canadian woman’s cash, purchase a T-shirt for $75 and make the contribution for her.

“Canadians can’t buy them, but Americans can buy it for them?” the journalist asked.

“Not technically,” says Barker. “You would just be making the donation.”

In the video, O’Keefe interjected to say “not technically means not legally,” and claimed the Clinton campaign broke the law, as evidenced by the on-camera exchange of cash for campaign swag.

“The FEC prohibits contributions by foreign nationals to campaigns ‘directly or indirectly,’” said O’Keefe. “The law also prohibits making and accepting contributions in the name of another person.”

However, reporters covering the news conference scoffed at the group’s latest “gotcha” moment.

“Is this a joke?” one reporter asked O’Keefe.

“Is this the best you have?” asked another.

As reporters pressed O’Keefe for making such a big deal over such a small monetary exchange, he said it was the fact that the campaign so breezily violated the law that he found alarming. He also promised more revelations, and videos, to come.

O’Keefe also argued the video shows a Clinton official accepting a foreign donation and demonstrates a “pattern of behavior” by the candidate, pointing to the much larger foreign donations made to the Clinton Foundation in exchange for preferential treatment from Hillary’s State Department.

“It’s not the dollar amount, it’s about the willingness to break the law.

“The most senior compliance person in the Clinton campaign said it was illegal, but they did it anyway,” said O’Keefe.

The Clinton campaign told the Washington Post, while the law does prevent foreign nationals from laundering direct campaign donations, it has never been used to go after someone for giving swag to a foreign friend.

“This video shows a Project Veritas operative yet again unsuccessfully trying to entrap campaign staffers who very clearly rejected any foreign donation,” said Jesse Ferguson, a spokesman for the Clinton campaign. “Our staffers understand and follow the law, as demonstrated even in their selectively edited video. Project Veritas, on the other hand, has been caught trying to commit fraud, falsify identities and break campaign finance law — not surprising, given that their founder has already been convicted for efforts like this.”

An attorney for Project Veritas, Benjamin Barr, admitted his organization’s journalist also broke the law by acting as an intermediary for an illegal campaign contribution, but likened it to a jaywalking violation.

Reporters asked if the Clinton campaign infraction was not also the equivalent of jaywalking but Barr insisted violating campaign laws was a much more serious offense.

Project Veritas also issued statement.

“Contrary to the claims of Hillary apologists, this story extends far beyond interns, volunteers, and low-level state staffers. Moreover, Hillary’s campaign didn’t merely skirt the law, they knowingly and intentionally violated it.”

O’Keefe rose to fame in 2009 with edited videos showing employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) encouraging criminal behavior, resulting in the freeze of federal funding to the organization.

At the end of Tuesday’s video, O’Keefe promises more videos that will show the Clinton campaign is breaking election law “at every level.”

“Stay tuned, Hillary, and check your email,” O’Keefe says.

Clinton, the former secretary of state and current front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, has had a rocky campaign.

She has faced surprisingly strong competition from avowed socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders,  who now trails Clinton in the first primary state of Iowa by just seven points. Clinton has lost a third of her support in Iowa since May.

Vice president Joe Biden is now considering entering the race.

Clinton is also under investigation by the FBI for the use of a private email server as secretary of state, which two inspectors general said contained emails with classified information, contrary to her denials.

As WND reported on Aug. 20, a federal judge ordered the State Department to work with the FBI to respond to a legal demand for details about her practice.

“We wouldn’t be here today if the employee [Clinton] had followed government policy,” U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said.

That decision came from a lawsuit filed by the watchdog group Judicial Watch, which, along with the House committee investing the Benghazi scandal, has subpoenaed many of Clinton’s emails.

In May, a federal judge ordered the State Department to release batches, every 30 days, of the 54,000 pages of the Clinton emails did not destroy.

She deleted some 30,000 pages of emails from her server, claiming they were personal.

The FBI is now attempting to see if all of Clinton’s emails can be retrieved from her server.

The State Department released more than 6,000 Clinton emails on Monday, the biggest batch yet.

The issue has even caused some Democrats to begin backing away from Clinton’s candidacy.

“I just never feel I have a grasp of what the facts are,” Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., told Kentucky television station WHAS. “Clearly, she has handled it poorly from the first day. And, there’s the appearance of dishonesty, if it’s not dishonest.”

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