Video taking off 50x its usual first day

O'Keefe and Higby face Minnesota charges over undercover election video

Prosecutors say the men used registered voters' identities while testing election rules, though neither cast a ballot.

Channel:

WCCO - CBS Minnesota Story of October 29, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 77,612 views a day, 50 times a normal first day on this channel (1,560).

James O’Keefe, Cam Higby charged with felony unlawful voting, identity theft in Minnesota

Neither cast a ballot. But Hennepin County prosecutors say James O'Keefe and Cam Higby broke the law by giving election judges other people's names while applying for ballots during Minnesota's August primary.

WCCO's report details felony charges of unlawful voting and identity theft against the two conservative activists. Prosecutors say they used the names of real registered voters without those voters' knowledge while filming an undercover video about the state's vouching rule.

The distinction at the center of the report is between casting a vote and taking steps to obtain a ballot under someone else's identity. County Attorney Mary Moriarty acknowledges that the men did not intend to vote, but says their conduct still crossed a legal line.

"The fundamental issue here is you cannot go into a polling place and misidentify yourself," Moriarty says.

The WCCO Short drew about 48,000 views in its first ten hours, far beyond the station's usual start for that format. Reporter Adam Duxter includes footage from the activists' election video alongside Moriarty's explanation of the charges.

Duxter reports that both men live outside Minnesota and had not been arrested, but must appear before a Minnesota judge within a month.

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