A Minnesota county has charged journalists James O’Keefe and Cam Higby with felony charges of unlawful voting and identity theft.
In a press release from the Hennepin County Attorney, O’Keefe and Higby are accused of attempting to “sow doubt about Minnesota’s secure voting systems” by filming themselves at Hennepin County polling locations and posting the videos to social media.
O’Keefe, 42, and Higby, 26, both journalists, visited polling places on Aug. 11 and spoke to officials under the guise of being local voters.
According to the county attorney, both men misrepresented their identities by giving election judges at the polling places names of registered voters without those voters’ knowledge or permission. The videos they shared showed interviews with poll workers about the state’s no-ID-required vouching program.
In the state of Minnesota, residents are allowed to register on voting day at a polling place if another registered voter from the same precinct signs an oath confirming that the applicant lives there.
The program allows a registered voter to vouch for up to eight other individuals who live in the same precinct but are not registered to vote and do not have identification. The voter vouching for others must do so under penalty of perjury.
Neither man signed the required oath or cast a ballot, according to the announcement.
“Elections are the bedrock of democracy and their protection is one of our highest priorities. Individuals engaging in unlawful conduct related to our elections will be held accountable,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said when announcing the charges.
“Our office has had regular meetings with Hennepin County Elections staff in preparation for both the primary and the general elections this year and we are fully prepared.”
Higby reposted one of the videos on X and said he’s “not afraid of Minnesota.”
The state stands by its handling of the election.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon spoke out following the announcement of the charges, saying, “Polling places are the heart of our democracy and should be places of safety and peace.”
“Any attempt to disrupt or deceive our election workers will not be tolerated,” he said. “We are grateful to our law enforcement partners for holding these individuals to account.”
O’Keefe responded to the felony charges in a post Wednesday on X.
He called his situation a “landmark First Amendment case.”
“Weaponized lawfare does not work against me. It has always backfired on the people who come after me,” O’Keefe said on X. “Most people find criminal charges and lawsuits stressful; the process becomes a form of punishment. But I love this process because it gives me the opportunity to expose injustice at the highest levels.”
He called on all Americans and journalists “to stand united” in a message to prosecutors in Minnesota that “the politics of fear will not prevail in the United States of America.”
O’Keefe said in a video he posted Wednesday on X that the charges were an “attempt to distract” from what O’Keefe said were unsecured elections in Minnesota. He said that they stood by their reporting and alleged that the case was an attempt to criminalize investigative journalism.
