James O'Keefe, Cam Higby Criminally Charged for Exposing Vulnerable Minnesota Election

Investigative journalists James O’Keefe and Cameron Higby have been hit with felony charges by left-wing Minneapolis prosecutors for their video exposing vulnerable loopholes in Minnesota’s elections. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty accused conservative media personalities O’Keefe, 42, and Higby, 26, of “try[ing] to sow doubt about Minnesota’s secure voting systems” on Wednesday: The journalist duo recorded footage of Higby entering Minnesota polling locations during the state’s August primary while donning Muslim garb in an effort to show how the voting system could be abused by registered voters being able to “vouch” for another person from the same precinct’s eligibility. As explained by the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website, a registered voter can vouch for up to eight other people. In their video, Higby can be seen walking into a polling place wearing a burqa over his face to show viewers how election workers were going to let him cast a vote in a woman’s name, and even vouch for O’Keefe, who was also in a disguise. “Mr. O’Keefe and Mr. Higby filmed themselves and posted the videos to social media to try to sow doubt about Minnesota’s secure voting systems,” a press release from the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office reads. While neither man actually voted, both were charged with unlawful voting and identity theft at the Wednesday press conference led by Moriarty, who has financial ties to leftist billionaire George Soros. “If you identify as a journalist, there is no such thing as undercover investigation in the polling place,” the prosecutor said. “You have to identify yourself as a journalist in the polling place, which they did not do.” Claiming that the prosecution of Higby and O’Keefe had nothing to do with their conservative political views, she said, “It is not against the law to be offensive. It’s not against the law to say the things that they said if you’re standing outside the polling place.” “So, no, we can’t let people’s political bent or whatever they’re here to do affect our decisions in deciding whether to issue felony charges,” Moriarty stated. Minnesota Secretary of State, Steve Simon, also made a statement, saying that polling places “are the heart of our democracy and as such should be places of safety and peace.” “Any attempt to disrupt or deceive our election workers will not be tolerated. We are grateful to our law enforcement partners for holding these individuals to account,” Simon concluded. Back in August, Simon had noticeably harsher words: “The misconduct by this group is outrageous and totally unacceptable. We have zero tolerance for lying, lawbreaking and disruptions at our polling places.” Higby responded to the charges against him by launching a fundraising effort on social media, writing, “This is lawfare. They want to scare all independent journalists who may challenge them. This is FASCISM.” “Fascists lock up journalists,” he wrote in a follow-up post on X. “I am not afraid of Minnesota,” he added in another, before calling Moriarty a “vile, disgusting coward.” O’Keefe has yet to make a public statement about the charges. Olivia Rondeau is a politics reporter for Breitbart News based in Washington, DC. Find her on X/Twitter and Instagram.