By Democrats have finally found a case of voter fraud they think should be prosecuted. The Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, whose office offered diversion to a leftwing Minnesota state employee accused of vandalizing six Teslas last year, announced Wednesday that conservative activists James O’Keefe and Cam Higby face unlawful voting and identity theft charges over an undercover election operation. Neither man cast a ballot.
The charges stem from visits to Minneapolis-area polling places during Minnesota’s August 11 primary. Prosecutors allege the men gave election judges the names of registered voters without their permission while recording encounters intended to test the state’s election procedures. They wore Muslim-style clothing, used accents and left without signing the required oath or voting. They recorded what they did to show how Minnesota does not validate legal votes and to show that ballot boxes could easily be stuffed with fake voters.
🚨 BREAKING: Journalists James O’Keefe and Cam Higby have been hit with TWO FELONY CHARGES in Minneapolis for their video EXPOSING vulnerabilities in Minnesota’s elections
This is TOTAL LAWFARE!@camhigby walked in wearing a burqa to show they’d let him vote with a WOMAN’S name…
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) October 28, 2026
Moriarty argues that the alleged crime occurred before a ballot could be cast. Minnesota’s law prohibits intentionally misrepresenting one’s identity while applying for a ballot, and her office maintains that the men crossed that threshold.
“I think it’s pretty clear they did not intend to vote. That’s not the question here,” Moriarty said. She maintains that the prosecution concerns their conduct, not their political views.
James Edward O’Keefe, 42, and Cam Higby, 26, both face felony charges of unlawful voting and identity theft.
Polling places are the heart of our democracy. Any attempt to disrupt or deceive our election workers will not be tolerated.
Watch: https://t.co/LH1Q5m224J pic.twitter.com/NMPizpONcN
— Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty (@HennepinAtty) October 28, 2026
Higby rejected that explanation, calling the prosecution “lawfare” and denying wrongdoing. O’Keefe’s organization has described the operation as an investigation into Minnesota’s vouching system, which allows a registered voter to affirm another person’s residence for same-day registration. Election officials contend that workers followed the rules and that the videos did not establish the vulnerabilities the activists claimed.
The contrast with Moriarty’s earlier exercise of prosecutorial discretion is difficult to miss.
In April 2025, her office offered pre-charge diversion to Dylan Bryan Adams, a state employee accused of causing more than $20,000 in damage to six Teslas. Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara publicly criticized the decision after investigators assembled the case.
NEW: Minneapolis Police Department rips far-left DA Mary Moriarty for declining to charge a Minnesota government employee who caused $20,000 in damages to Teslas.
No wonder why Minneapolis is turning into a sh*t hole.
Police provided evidence of 33-year-old Dylan Bryan Adams… pic.twitter.com/g7h7lnjnks
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) April 22, 2025
Moriarty’s office defended diversion as a way to obtain restitution, preserve Adams’ employment and reduce repeat offenses. It said criminal prosecution remained possible if he failed to meet the program’s requirements. Those are meaningful conditions, but they also demonstrate how much flexibility the office possesses when deciding whether alleged misconduct warrants felony prosecution.
It’s not the first time that her office has been lenient for political reasons:
In 2017 Mary Moriarty oversaw the rape prosecution of Somalian Abdihamat Bille Mohamed.
She released him with no jail time.
In 2025 Abdihamat Bille Mohamed raped 2 more women.
Now she wants to put James O’Keefe and Cam Higby in jail for exposing voter fraud.
We can’t coexist. pic.twitter.com/4AoW92EXl2
— C3 (@C_3C_3) October 28, 2026
Whether O’Keefe and Higby violated Minnesota law will turn on the evidence and the statute’s requirements, but there’s little doubt that Moriarty would be prosecuting them if they weren’t liberal journalists showing how easily it is to cast fraudulent votes in Minnesota. Their initial court appearance is scheduled for November 16; Moriarty has indicated that probation would likely be the presumptive outcome if they are convicted.
[READ MORE: Liberal Activist Defaces 9-11 Memorial]
