Florida bars O’Keefe from fundraising in the state

Florida has barred James O’Keefe, a conservative activist and founder of an organization that targets reporters and liberal groups through undercover investigations, from fundraising in the state, The Washington Post reported Friday.

O’Keefe, who was previously convicted in Louisiana for entering a U.S. senator’s office with two men posing as phone repairmen, will not be allowed to fundraise in Florida due to a law that prevents people found guilty of fraud and other crimes from soliciting donations from residents.

New York threatened last week to ban O’Keefe’s group, Project Veritas, from raising money in that state over the founder’s criminal conviction and failure to file certain documents with officials. 

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A Florida official told the Post they had informed Project Veritas that O’Keefe’s conviction falls within “disqualifying offenses” under Florida law.

While it’s unclear how much the ban might affect the group, as it applies to O’Keefe personally and not the organization, the Post noted that O’Keefe is in charge of the group’s fundraising and has signed email solicitations as the public face of the group.

The charity drew $4.8 million last year, raising millions from big conservative donors, according to the newspaper.

Project Veritas has also faced bans or restrictions on fundraising in Maine, Mississippi, Utah and Wisconsin over O’Keefe’s record, the Post reported.

O’Keefe’s group, which produces undercover videos targeting left-leaning political groups and media figures, unsuccessfully attempted to trick the Post last month into publishing a false testimony by one of its operatives involving Alabama GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore.