Caught on Camera: O'Keefe Exposes Cash-for-Ballots Scheme on LA's Skid Row
O'Keefe Media Group's undercover footage captures 28 instances of election fraud in Los Angeles. DOJ responds with prosecution pledge under AG Bondi. #California
Caught on Camera: O'Keefe Exposes Cash-for-Ballots Scheme on LA's Skid Row
James O'Keefe is at it again — and this time, the footage is damning.
The O'Keefe Media Group (OMG) released Part I of an undercover investigation on Tuesday that captured 28 separate instances of petitioners on Los Angeles' Skid Row offering cash, cigarettes, and even marijuana in exchange for signatures on election petitions and voter registration forms. That's not grassroots organizing — that's a federal crime.
What the Cameras Caught
O'Keefe's team went undercover, posing as homeless individuals on Skid Row. What they found was a well-oiled machine of fraud:
Cash payments of $7–$10 per signature, with some petitioners reportedly earning up to $1,000 a day.
Fake addresses encouraged: Circulators told homeless individuals to make up addresses. One was caught on tape saying, "Oh, you can just fake an address." Another suggested "Pinocchio Lane."
Petitioners who didn't even understand the petitions they were pushing — they were just collecting signatures for a paycheck.
The Weingart Center, a nonprofit that has received hundreds of millions in public funding, was filmed directing homeless people to the fraudulent petitioners and coaching "plausible deniability."
One Weingart Center employee was caught saying: "See, they say ignorance is no excuse for the law. But a lot of times, I have to say 'I didn't know, I had no idea.'"
Let that sink in. A taxpayer-funded organization coaching people on how to dodge legal responsibility for election fraud.
The DOJ Responds
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli didn't mince words. Citing 52 U.S.C. § 10307(c) — the federal statute making it a crime to provide false voter registration information or pay for registration forms — he made clear that AG Pam Bondi's DOJ will "aggressively pursue anyone and everyone" involved.
That's a sharp departure from past administrations that largely looked the other way on election integrity issues in deep-blue California.
California Officials Scramble
LA Mayor Karen Bass, DA Nathan Hochman, the Secretary of State's office, and Governor Newsom have all confirmed they're "aware" of the footage. A Newsom spokesperson said the alleged activity "is a felony in California" and anyone caught "should be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."
Words are cheap, Governor. The question is whether California's notoriously lax election enforcement apparatus will actually follow through — or whether it'll take the federal DOJ to clean up the mess.
Why This Matters for Grassroots America
This is exactly the kind of story that grassroots conservatives have been sounding the alarm about for years. Election integrity isn't a "conspiracy theory" — it's happening in broad daylight on camera. When publicly funded nonprofits are actively facilitating ballot fraud and coaching people to lie about it, we have a systemic problem that goes far beyond a few rogue petitioners.
O'Keefe says this is only Part I. If the first installment is any indication, there's a lot more California has to answer for.
Sources: The Gateway Pundit, O'Keefe Media Group, U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli (X)