In a letter demanding preservation of evidence, published by O’Keefe on Wednesday, Richard Pelletier alleges that Project Veritas violated Nevada’s wiretapping statutes by recording the conversation.
Project Veritas maintains that it was clear the conversation was on the record, despite Pelletier’s claims that it was agreed to be “on background.”
The Assistant Communications Director of Project Veritas, Laura Loomer, confirmed to Sputnik News that the organization will also be “pursuing justice,” in regards to what they uncovered during the investigation.
"The Bernie Sanders campaign committed an egregious violation of campaign finance law, and Project Veritas plans to pursue justice in this matter,” Loomer told Sputnik News.
Federal election law prohibits a foreign national from directly or indirectly contributing money or any other thing of value to a Federal, state, or local election. This includes the payment by any person of compensation for the personal services of another person which are rendered to a political committee without charge for any purpose.
“The payment for the personal services of another person if those services are rendered without charge to a political committee for any purpose, except for legal and accounting services… is a contribution,: 52 U.S.C. 30101(8)(A) explains.
The volunteers were allegedly used to deface and/or destroy campaign materials and signs of Sanders’ opponents — on both sides of the political aisle.
Stealing or vandalizing political advertisement is illegal, the law states “no person shall remove, deface,or knowingly destroy any political advertising which is placed on or affixed to public property or any private property.”
In the video released by Project Veritas, the Australian nationals are seen stealing Trump signs. The footage also features a recording of Australian citizen Rebecca Doyle stating “they [the ALP] pay for our flights, they pay for the cost of accommodation, which is just the staff house, and then we get $60 stipend per day.”
Another Australian citizen, Ben Kremer, is also on film stating, “I couldn’t afford to be here if [ALP] didn’t pay for it.”
— James O'Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) December 1, 2016
O’Keefe’s team’s discovery lead to New Hampshire Representative William O’Brien filing a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission.
“Based on information and belief as set forth below, the Australian Labor Party, a foreign political party espousing democratic socialist policies, which also has international goals such as, in effect, seeking the dissolution of national borders to promote open immigration, has violated the FECA and the regulation of the Federal Election Commission that prohibit foreign contributions,” O’Brien wrote in his complaint.
Project Veritas is a non-profit organization whose mission statement is to “Investigate and expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions in order to achieve a more ethical and transparent society.”
It has been at the center of multiple scandals involving their undercover journalism work.
