James O'Keefe charged over Minnesota voting video

Two conservative media influencers are facing felony charges tonight following their undercover operation at Minneapolis polling places during the August primary election. The pair posted a video of their encounters with poll workers, and today the Hennepin County Attorney's Office has charged each defendant with felony counts of unlawful voting and identity theft. As Paul Bloom tells us, the Hennepin County Attorney called the defendants' actions an attempt to cast doubt on Minnesota's Election Day vouching system. Vouching simply allows a registered voter to sign a legal oath confirming the address of a neighbor who isn't registered yet so they can cast a ballot. Prosecutors here allege James O'Keefe and Cam Higbee disguise themselves and use the identities of actual registered voters without their permission, crossing the line into felony identity theft. I can just vouch for them that they are registered, yes? Okay, that's a good thing. We go back and we get Krishna and Ernesto and Mohammed, and we bring them here. In this social media video posted to YouTube, political influencers James O'Keefe and Cam Higbee dressed in Muslim costume on primary day in Minnesota to, quote, test the state's vouching system. I know the audience is probably thinking this is completely ridiculous. That is where a registered voter confirms the address of another person in their ward or precinct in order to allow the individual to cast a ballot. Minnesota law allows a voter to vouch for up to eight others. Success. We go in, I say, the name is William Pomerantz, and they tell me that I can vouch for up to eight people. While Higby took to social media on Wednesday to call himself and his partner journalists who were exposing corruption, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty concluded their actions in August were felony crimes. If you identify as a journalist, there is no such thing as undercover investigation in the polling place. You have to identify yourself as a journalist in the polling place, which they did not do. Moriarty's team charged both men with felony identity theft and unlawful voting under Minnesota's Election Day Act. Court documents state the men visited several Minneapolis polling sites, including schools, where they provided the names of registered voters in the precinct, but never signed an oath and never cast a ballot. Moriarty says that doesn't matter. The fundamental issue here is you cannot go into a polling place and misidentify yourself and use other people's identity and say that to our election judges as you apply for a ballot, whether or not you intend to vote. In a statement to me through his verified account on X, Higby wrote here, quote, this investigation was conducted to expose vulnerabilities in the Minnesota voting system, which affects all Americans. I never voted, I never signed an affidavit, and I never violated a law. The two men who live out of state and are not in custody are due to make their first appearances in Hennepin County District Court on November 16th. Paul Bloom, Fox 9.