A new bombshell video by Project Veritas is raising some legal and ethical questions for the Robert ‘Beto’ O’Rourke campaign. Campaign ...
A new bombshell video by Project Veritas is raising some legal and ethical questions for the Robert ‘Beto’ O’Rourke campaign.
Campaign staffers for the Democrat running against Republican incumbent Ted Cruz in the U.S. Senate race in Texas appeared in the video to acknowledge using campaign finances to help illegal immigrants traveling with the migrant caravan toward the U.S. border.
“The Hondurans, yeah… I’m going to go get some food right now, like just some stuff to drop off…” O’Rourke campaign field manager, Dominic Chacon, can be heard saying in the video which was released Thursday. “So, I’m going to get some groceries and some blankets…”
“The Hondurans, yeah… I’m going to go get some food right now, like just some stuff to drop off…” O’Rourke campaign field manager, Dominic Chacon, can be heard saying in the video which was released Thursday. “So, I’m going to get some groceries and some blankets…”
“Don’t ever repeat this and stuff but like if we just say that we’re buying food for a campaign event, like the Halloween events…” AnaPaula Themann, field organizer for the campaign, said.
“That’s not a horrible idea, but I didn’t hear anything. Umm, we can wait until tomorrow for that,” Chacon replied.
“Well that’s exactly the food we need. And I will just mark it as, I do have dozens of block walkers,” Themann added.
Chacon went on to describe how the campaign staff could use prepaid credit cards to pay for food for members of the Honduran caravan, some of whom he indicated had already arrived in the United States and claimed asylum.
“I think we can use that with those [campaign pre-paid] cards to buy some food, all that s**t can be totally masked like, oh we just wanted a healthy breakfast!” he said.
“I don’t want it to make it seem like all of us are from [the O’Rourke campaign],” Themann said about distributing supplies. “I just hope nobody that’s the wrong person finds out about this.”
“We’re going to use more of those cards to get them more supplies too. So it’s all going to work out,” Chacon said. “I’m done being nice. I’m done being professional. Because nothing is professional. None of this is like s**t there is a rule book for, you know?”
He also suggested using campaign vans to give some of the illegal immigrants rides.
“We could probably get away with using the vans. … Nobody needs to know,” Chacon said. “For me, I can ignore the rules and I’ll f**k it. I don’t mind breaking the rules.”
When questioned by Project Veritas’ undercover journalist about using campaign resources, Jody Casey, O’Rourke’s campaign manager, responded, “Don’t worry.”
Chacon revealed at one point that Casey texted to say she was “so happy that we have a staff that gets it and was there.”
“So, Jody knows?” the Project Veritas journalist asked.
“Well, she doesn’t know we used the pre-paid card, but she doesn’t need to know,” Chacon replied.
Staff was even heard talking about how getting caught could lead to major fines.
“The material Project Veritas Action Fund captured shows campaign workers covering up the true nature of spending of campaign funds and intentionally misreporting them,” a Project Veritas Action attorney reviewing the video concluded. “This violates the FEC’s rules against personal use and misreporting. It also violates Section 1001, making a false statement to the federal government. The FEC violations impose civil penalties, including fines of up to $10,000 or 200 percent of the funds involved. Violations of Section 1001 are criminal and include imprisonment of up to five years.”
“Charity and helping your fellow man are things we applaud at Project Veritas Action. The problem is, you can’t break the law when you do it,” James O’Keefe, founder and president of Project Veritas Action, said.
The video exposing the O’Rourke campaign is the eighth in a series of Project Veritas undercover videos which have featured Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp and Tennessee Senate candidate Phil Bredesen.
Watch the full video below, via Project Veritas Action:
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