Leadership Institute Alumni and Associates: James O'Keefe, Joe Wilson, Mitch McConnell, Karl Rove, Ralph E. Reed, Jr., Grover Norquist

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 26. Chapters: James O'Keefe, Joe Wilson, Mitch McConnell, Karl Rove, Ralph E. Reed, Jr., Grover Norquist, Alex X. Mooney, Morton Blackwell. Excerpt: James E. O'Keefe III (born June 28, 1984) is a conservative American activist who has produced videos of public figures and workers in a variety of organizations. He came to national attention after publishing video and audios of workers at Planned Parenthood in 2008 and at ACORN in 2009. Investigations by legal authorities and journalists have found his videos to have been selectively and deceptively edited to present the subjects in the worst possible light. He uses quotes out of context, moves material around chronologically, and together creates what Michael Gerson, a former speechwriter for President George W. Bush, characterized in the NPR sting as an alluring lie. Some of O'Keefe's projects have generated controversy and have influenced Congressional votes. Due to his videos of ACORN workers supposedly aiding a couple in income tax evasion and other crimes, the Census Bureau ended a contract by which ACORN workers were doing urban counts for the 2010 census, and the US Congress voted to freeze funds for the non-profit, which had aided low- and moderate-income people for 40 years. The non-profit also lost most private funding, and in March 2010 had to close most of its offices across the nation. Shortly after that, the California State Attorney General and the US Government Accountability Office released reports of their investigations. They found that O'Keefe had misrepresented the actions of ACORN workers, that workers had not committed the illegal actions he portrayed, and that the organization had managed its federal funds appropriately. Some of his sting operations have been discovered by his targets: sending men in disguise to hack the phone system of Democratic Par...