Two months ago, the campaign for Russ Feingold, former Democratic senator from Wisconsin,
revealed that it had caught an infiltrator from Project Veritas, the undercover opposition research organization founded by James O'Keefe. On Thursday, Project Veritas revealed the fruits of its labor — a video that Feingold's campaign sees as proof that there is nothing to see when Feingold, who is running to reclaim his Senate seat, goes behind closed doors.
The tape,
dramatically titled "Russ Feingold: Hillary Might Issue Executive Order on Guns," shows O'Keefe suiting up and driving to a Palo Alto, Calif., fundraiser for Feingold. (The Democrat's short stint at Stanford University, and fundraising and California, have been attacked by Republican Sen. Ron Johnson's campaign.) Once there, an unidentified Project Veritas reporter prompts Feingold to talk about guns.
“If there’s still Republican control of Congress, and if Hillary is elected, is there anything she can do to...” the reporter asks Feingold in the tape.
“Well, there might be an executive order,” Feingold responds.
“Oh, so she can, I know that Barack...” the reporter says.
“He did some executive orders with regards to the aspects of waiting periods," Feingold said. "But what we all need is the Senate, have her there, and then put pressure on the House. And we might win the House."
Far from a secret, Feingold's position is the one he has held through a tough campaign. In January,
he praised President Obama for the aforementioned executive actions on guns. "President Obama was right to take action," Feingold said. "It is a shame that Congress refuses to act on even a few modest and constitutional steps to address gun violence."
Project Veritas and other conservative news sources have hinted at something darker to come. In this video,
O'Keefe notes that a hacked email included in a recent WikiLeaks tranche found that Clinton spokesman Brian Fallon "supports closing the gun show loophole — by executive order."
