Videographer Behind Secret NPR Videos Makes Push for Nonprofit Status

Washington

James O’Keefe, the controversial videographer, has taken down the prominent antipoverty group Acorn, senior NPR executives, and employees at both Planned Parenthood and the New Jersey teachers’ union.

But he may face a tougher task now that he is asking for help from one of the nation’s biggest institutions, the Internal Revenue Service.

The 26-year-old self-proclaimed investigative journalist is seeking charity status for Project Veritas, an organization he created to raise money for his projects.

Because its application with the IRS for tax-exempt status is still pending, little information is publicly available about Project Veritas and how it will operate. The IRS does not make public applications for charity status until after it approves them.

But it is certain that his application is not clear-cut, tax lawyers say—and until he gets that status he cannot offer his donors the opportunity to write off gifts to his group.

Mr. O’Keefe—through a spokesman, Kevin McVicker— declined to be interviewed by The Chronicle about his plans for Project Veritas.

An attempt to visit Mr. O’Keefe at Project Veritas’s official address in Washington—2100 M Street N.W., Suite 170-241—was also unsuccessful. Suite 170 is a UPS store and No. 241 is a small mailbox that rents for $35 a month.

Application Standards

Project Veritas’s first step in getting an exemption is to file an application with the IRS known as Form 1023.

As part of that application process, Project Veritas must meet key requirements about how the group is organized and operated and spell out what charitable mission it will pursue.

Organizations must also prove that their assets do not unjustly enrich board members or officers and that board members do not pursue business activities unrelated to their tax-exempt purpose. Applicants must also show that they do “not engage in activities that are illegal or violate fundamental public policy.”

What’s more, applicants must “absolutely refrain from participating in the political campaigns of candidates for local, state, or federal office.”

Criminal Activity

While Mr. O’Keefe’s videos have had a partisan bent, tax lawyers say that he should have little trouble satisfying the IRS’s rules on political activity.

The real concern, they say, is that Mr. O’Keefe pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor crime after he and three others entered the office of Sen. Mary Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana, last year pretending to be telephone repairmen.

The fact that Mr. O’Keefe has stated in public that he would do it again, albeit “differently” would probably be the biggest stumbling block to gaining charity status, said Marc Owens, a Washington tax lawyer who formerly oversaw the IRS division that monitors tax-exempt groups.

“If he is proposing to do something that is, in fact, illegal, can the IRS believe, with any degree of credibility, what he is saying?” Mr. Owens said. “Is he going to continue to enter government offices illegally? He pled guilty to it once and said he would do it again. It’s reasonable to conclude that the organization may be engaged in criminal activity in the future.”

But Mr. Owens added that while the IRS does conduct Internet searches of applicant organizations, it does not usually conduct criminal checks of applicants for charity status.

“Let’s assume that the IRS realizes that somewhere in that stream of 50,000 to 70,000 applications is one from James O’Keefe and they can find it in time to ponder it more carefully. If the application is innocuous and just says he makes documentary videos, it could be processed very expeditiously,” Mr. Owens said. “It’s a flip of the coin if the IRS investigates.

No Partisan Campaigns

Outside observers may have thought it was Mr. O’Keefe’s politics that could be more troublesome, but that’s not how tax law works, says Dean Zerbe, a Washington lawyer who previously was a top aide to Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee, where he was involved in monitoring the IRS.

“Charities are allowed to engage in certain activities,” said Mr. Zerbe. “It’s not viewed as a red flag, and the IRS has got other priorities in the charitable sector that they are looking at beyond this.”

Project Veritas’s public statements have avoided falling into the realm of political campaigning, tax experts say. Its Web site states that it “does not intend to advocate specific resolutions to the issues that are raised through its investigations, nor does it intend to encourage others to do so. Our goal is to inform the public of wrongdoing and allow the public to make judgments on the issues.”

Mr. O’Keefe’s videos have led to high-profile resignations at NPR at a time when some Republican lawmakers are pushing to end federal support to the organization.

His secret videos of teachers in New Jersey cursing, discussing voter fraud, and laughing about how hard it is to fire tenured teachers in August 2010 took place just months after the teachers’ union resisted the demands of the state’s Republican governor, Chris Christie, for a wage freeze. Such activities could be considered by the IRS in reviewing Project Veritas’s application for charity status. But it’s unlikely that they will matter much to the IRS, Mr. Zerbe says.

“The IRS would only take an interest if they said their mission or goal is overwhelmingly about moving legislation or promoting a legislative agenda,” he said. “Here they’ve said they are informing and educating and conducting oversight—that’s perfectly within the boundaries. Under the current law, I don’t think [the IRS] would bat an eyelash.”

Seeking Donations

Even as it waits for IRS approval, Project Veritas is attempting to raise money through its Web site, where visitors are invited to give in amounts that range from $25 to $5,000 or more. For $100, a contributor can become a “founding donor”.

“Your generous gift will be put to immediate use to further Project Veritas’ mission of advancing transparency and ethics in both government and the private sector,” the Web site says.

The site also includes a disclaimer at the bottom of each page that reads: “Because Project Veritas’ 501(c)(3) status is pending, contributions are not yet tax-deductible or are not tax-deductible at this time.”

Mr. O’Keefe also continues to move forward with undercover reports that he described in a recent interview with CNN’s Howard Kurtz as a “form of guerrilla theater” that is necessary to uncover the truth.

“I’m just getting started in my journalism career. We’re going to be going after all different types of organizations,” Mr. O’Keefe said in response to a question about whether he was focusing only on groups that were aligned with liberal causes. He added that he would “absolutely” go after conservative groups. “There’s fraud. Particularly financially in this country with the crony capitalism. My personal philosophy is essentially that big business and big government are scheming together to hurt Americans. So, yes, we’re gonna get there for sure.”