Brief 8 - Investigative Reporting

Investigative Journalism is the backbone of freedom in the United States. With the prevalence of censorship technology in a post-911 world, the freedom of the press is paramount to uncovering truth in a time where truth is hard to find. One of the most infamous examples of undercover reporting that comes to mind is the Veritas Project's role in the recent 2016 presidential election.

The journalists at Project Veritas went undercover in order to expose corruption in the Florida Democratic Party, with implications reaching to the Clinton campaign in general. Journalists secretly recorded conversations with people from the party in incriminating conversations.

Democratic employee Mao on campaign ethics:
“I think the bar of acceptable conduct in this campaign is pretty low, to be fired I would have to grab Emma’s [Female Co-Worker] ass twice and she would have to complain about it, I would have to sexually harass someone...I think if I ripped up completed VR [Voter Registration] forms — like 20 of them — I think I would get reprimanded. I don’t think I would get fired,”

Scott Foval on provoking violence at Trump rallies:
"There's a script, sometimes the 'crazies' bite ... sometimes they don't bite...It is not hard to get some of these a******* to pop off, it's a matter of showing up to want to get into the rally in a Planned Parenthood T-shirt, or 'Trump is a Nazi,' you know. You can message to draw them out, and draw them to punch you."

On a technical level, these videos are all just hypothetical conversations and claims by individuals, and do not provide a basis for legal action against the Florida Democratic Party or the Clinton campaign. However there were repercussions. Two of the individuals recorded, Scott Foval and Robert Creamer left within 36 hours of the video's release. Creamer was recorded appearing to brainstorm ideas on how to commit voter fraud, without committing to anything. The Democratic party then renounced the values communicated by Creamer and Foval, while also condemning the Veritas Project.

"Our firm has recently been the victim of a well-funded, systematic spy operation that is the modern day equivalent of the Watergate burglars,” the firm said. “The plot involved the use of trained operatives using false identifications, disguises and elaborate false covers to infiltrate our firm and others, to steal campaign plans, and goad unsuspecting individuals into making careless statements on hidden cameras. One of those individuals was a temporary regional subcontractor who was goaded into statements that do not reflect our values.”"

According to Max Steele, a spokesman for the state Democratic Party, Mao or anyone else would lose their jobs for destroying voter-registration forms.

"Sexual assault and harassment, and destruction of voter registration forms, are serious offenses,” Steele said in a written statement. “There is no question that a staff member who engaged in this kind of behavior would be immediately terminated, and we are investigating the claims. Remarks like these do not represent the Florida Democratic Party and are completely inappropriate."

In my humble opinion, comparing Watergate burglars destroying evidence to a reporter exposing truth is a bit of a stretch. But it's not just bitter Democratic representatives that are against this type of investigative journalism; according to politico.com it's also the law. Florida law requires citizens to consent before being video taped. It is unclear whether reporters have special protection in this case, but in any case no lawsuit has been brought forward. And even if the Democratic party chose to pursue legal action, the reporters themselves remain anonymous, which would make it problematic.

So even though the "victims" of investigative journalism have postured on the subject of the legal nature, the practice seems safe for now. In any case, the more people talk about the findings of Project Veritas, the more damage is done to the Democratic Party, so even if the law did allow them to prosecute the journalists, their game plan is to denounce the journalists, sacrifice some scapegoats, and then deny any wrongdoing.