Conservative activist James O’Keefe accused Minneapolis prosecutors of using “weaponized lawfare” after they charged him and fellow right-wing influencer Cam Higby over their hidden-camera report on Minnesota’s vouching program for registered voters.
Mr. O’Keefe said the case, in which he is charged with unlawful voting and identity theft, has less to do with his personal circumstances and more to do with the sanctity of freedom of speech.
“This is not political. It is fundamental,” he said Wednesday in a video statement posted. “It is about whether citizens still have the right to question their government. This is now a landmark First Amendment case, and every American’s right to speak truth to power has been put on the line.”
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Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty charged Mr. O’Keefe and Mr. Higby with unlawful voting and identity theft after they visited multiple polling sites while pretending to be Muslim residents — including wearing clothing associated with the religion and using foreign accents.
The top prosecutor said the two defendants “identified themselves using names of registered voters in those precincts without those voters’ knowledge or commission.”
Ms. Moriarty said she didn’t know how they acquired the names of registered voters, some of whom are dead.
The video showed Mr. Higby and Mr. O’Keefe going to polling places in Minneapolis to try to unveil vulnerabilities in the state’s vouching law, which allows registered voters to attest that a potential voter is at the correct precinct.
Mr. O’Keefe said his expose was about educating Americans on the vouching laws, but it’s unclear why they focused on these laws or why they portrayed themselves as Muslims.
One interaction had a staffer wearing a niqab, the long opaque garments that cover the entire body and face except the eyes.
The vouching system, which took effect in 1973, is rarely used. The Office of the Secretary of State said less than 1% of all votes cast in the 2024 general election came from vouched voters.
The law typically applies to people who recently moved and have not updated their address on their voter registration, or for new residents of senior living facilities.
Mr. O’Keefe said in his video statement that he specifically instructed his staff to never to sign an affidavit, never procure a ballot, never apply for a ballot or even touch a ballot.
Ms. Moriarty said they are criminally liable because they did intend to do so and began applying for a ballot. Mr. O’Keefe responded by saying he carefully coached his staff on how to avoid incriminating themselves while posing as registered voters.
“When you go in the ballot location, you cannot say you are that person. So you guys who are doing this tomorrow, you cannot say you’re [the registered voter],” Mr. O’Keefe said, according to footage of a pre-shoot briefing he gave his staff.
“You say, ‘Hey, do you have whatever the name is? Do you have this person?’ OK — it’s a crime for you to say ‘I am this person,’” the video showed.
The conservative activist cited some of his legal victories, such as an August decision from the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that overturned a $133,000 judgment against Mr. O’Keefe.
The ruling stemmed from a 2016 video for Project Veritas, Mr. O’Keefe’s former company, when a staffer conducted a sting on a Democratic Party consulting firm.
The court ruled that while Project Veritas’ infiltration of the firm was unlawful, the six-figure judgment violated his First Amendment rights by punishing him for publishing a news story.
Mr. O’Keefe said he’s looking forward to the coming legal fight.
“Most people find lawsuits stressful. The process becomes a form of punishment, but not to me. I actually love this process. I enjoy this process. I’m going to have fun with this process because it allows me to expose injustice at the highest levels,” he said in the video.
Mr. O’Keefe and Mr. Higby are due in Hennepin County District Court on Nov. 16.
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