The Beto O’Rourke campaign is responding to an undercover video which appears to show his staffers using campaign funds to buy Honduran migrants supplies.
The video was released Thursday by the controversial rightwing group Project Veritas. The group has been criticized in the past for its undercover tactics and the way it edits video footage together.
Project Veritas imbedded a woman into the O’Rourke campaign and secretly recorded conversations with staffers. The video runs 24 minutes and contains a series of short clips highlighting conversations with various people including Jody Casey, the Campaign Manager.
“It’s like, I just hope nobody... that the wrong person finds out about this,” Napaula Themann, a campaign field organizer can be heard saying during a trip to a store.
At one point, being led by the undercover Project Veritas employee, field manager Dominic Chacon, is recorded having a conversation the undercover worker.
“We can probably get away with baby wipes too,” says the undercover employee. “Yes, and say it’s just hot people that are sweating.”
“People need to clean their hands. Yeah. I love it. I love it,” Chacon responds.
Although the video alleges groceries, water, supplies and transportation are being provided to fund the Honduran migrant caravan, the O’Rourke campaign says that is not the case.
"Staff members took it upon themselves to use prepaid cards from one of our more than 700 field offices to buy baby wipes, diapers, water, fruit and granola bars, and donate them to a local humanitarian nonprofit named Annunciation House that helps mothers and children in the community,” said Chris Evans, O’Rourke’s spokesperson. “The value was under $300 and it will be appropriately reported to the FEC."
The Annunciation House in El Paso is one of several shelters where families detained by ICE are being reunited.
According to the FEC, donations to charities defined by the Internal Revenue Code are legal as long as they are properly reported and the candidate does not receive any kickbacks.
At the time the video was released, the controversial migrant caravan was still hundreds of miles away in Mexico.
Sen. Ted Cruz, who often criticizes O’Rourke’s stance on immigration, responded to the undercover video on Twitter.
"Two basic Qs every reporter should ask Beto today: (1) should the 'caravan' be allowed to cross illegally into Texas? (Beto refuses to answer.) And (2) did your campaign dollars illegally fund their doing so?"