James Edward O'Keefe III (born June 28, 1984) is an American conservative political activist. He produces secretly recorded undercover audio and video encounters with figures and workers in academic, governmental and social service organizations, purporting to show abusive or allegedly illegal behavior by employees and/or representatives of those organizations. He has been criticized for selectively editing videos to misrepresent the context of conversations and the subjects' responses, creating the false impression that people said or did things they did not. He gained national attention for his video recordings of workers at Association of Community Organizations for Reform
ACORN videos (2009)
In September 2009, O'Keefe and his associate, Hannah Giles, published edited hidden camera recordings in which Giles posed as a prostitute and O'Keefe as her boyfriend, a law student, in an attempt to elicit damaging responses from employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), an advocacy organization for 40 years for persons of low and moderate income.  A Washington Post correspondent reported that O'Keefe "said he targeted ACORN for the same reasons that the political right does: its massive voter registration drives", and "Politicians are getting elected single-handedly due to this organization." ACORN mostly registered people from the Latino and African American communities.  The videos were recorded during the summer of 2009 and appeared to show low-level ACORN employees in six cities providing advice to Giles and O'Keefe on how to avoid detection by authorities of tax evasion, human smuggling and child prostitution. He framed the undercover recordings with a preface of him dressed in a "pimp" outfit, which he also wore in TV media interviews. This gave viewers, including the media, the impression that he had dressed that way when speaking to ACORN workers. However, he actually entered the ACORN offices in conservative street clothes (the sleeve of his dress shirt is visible on camera). Furthermore, the ACORN employees involved reported his activities to the police after he left. O'Keefe selectively edited and manipulated his recordings of ACORN employees, as well as distorted the chronologies. Several journalists and media outlets have expressed regret for not properly scrutinizing and vetting his work.  On April 10, 2012, the political gossip site Wonkette reported that Andrew Breitbart had signed a $120,000 contract for "life rights" by O'Keefe and Giles based on the ACORN videos. The contract was paid in monthly increments of $5,000. Giles ultimately received $32,000 before parting ways with Breitbart over what she described in legal depositions as "a conflict of visions". O'Keefe ultimately received $65,000.

Q: What are the ACORN videos?
A: Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN),
What is O'Keefe's connection?
O'Keefe and his associate, Hannah Giles, published edited hidden camera recordings
O'Keefe and his associate, Hannah Giles, published edited hidden camera recordings