O’Keefe EXPLODES on NYT Reporter Claiming OMG Could Be Encouraging Volunteers to Violate State Laws

Ken Bensinger of The New York Times reached out to James O’Keefe with a series of misleading claims suggesting that O’Keefe is encouraging volunteers to break laws regarding recording at polling sites and risking voter privacy—despite extensive guidelines that OMG provides to ensure legal compliance.

In his email, Bensinger alleges that O’Keefe “could be encouraging volunteers to violate numerous state laws” regarding recording at polling places, intimidation, and election interference. However, O’Keefe, categorically refuted these assertions, highlighting how the organization actively instructs volunteers on what not to do, clearly stating: "We literally posted on X and our website: 'Don’t intimidate voters, don’t photograph or film ballots, don’t touch ballots, don’t interfere with the election process, and know the law.' We’re actively publishing everything people shouldn’t do to ensure they have the information they need."

O’Keefe emphasized that OMG’s extensive legal efforts involve consulting lawyers and creating state-by-state guidelines to ensure compliance, stating it’s “inaccurate to accuse someone of encouraging others to break the law when we take the time to do our due diligence—employ lawyers, spend weeks pouring over statutes across the country.”

To further discredit O’Keefe, Bensinger questioned how O’Keefe could claim to “play no part” in the recordings, given that it provides cameras and legal guidance to volunteers. O’Keefe countered, “We are not going to ship cameras to Pennsylvania, and we have explained the reasons for that. In fact, we created an entire PDF guideline listing states where we can’t ship cameras, with a front page detailing what not to do.”