Robby Mook was emphatic: The Democratic operatives caught in last week’s Project Veritas undercover sting “never had a relationship with the Clinton campaign.”
That was Sunday. A day later, however, Hillary Clinton campaign manager’s denial came back to haunt him.
On Monday, Project Veritas Action released another hidden-camera video in which Democracy Partners’ head Robert Creamer said that the Democratic presidential candidate personally gave the go-ahead for him to proceed with the “Donald Duck” strategy.
“And in the end, it was the candidate, Hillary Clinton, the future president of the United States, who wanted ducks on the ground and so by God, we will get ducks on the ground,” Mr. Creamer said in the video.
The other consultant, Americans United for Change’s Scott Foval, said he actually wore a duck costume as part of the gimmick to embarrass Republican Donald Trump.
That wasn’t how Mr. Mook described the Clinton campaign’s involvement with the operatives in a Sunday interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.”
SEE ALSO: Undercover video shows Democrats saying they hire agitators to disrupt Donald Trump events
“These individuals no longer have a relationship with the DNC. They have never had a relationship with the Clinton campaign,” said Mr. Mook, referring to Mr. Creamer and Mr. Foval.
In the video, however, Mr. Creamer said he was told to proceed by Christina Reynolds, Clinton deputy communications director.
“[T]hen I get a call, actually on a plane about to go to London last week — Christina Reynolds calls and says, ’I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is the candidate would like to have a mascot following around the duck,’ I mean Trump,” Mr. Creamer said.
“So my answer to Christina was, ’If the future president of the United States wants ducks on the ground, we will put ducks on the ground,’ ” Mr. Creamer said.
Mr. Mook was responding to questions about two videos released last week showing that Democratic operatives planted paid agitators at Trump rallies to provoke supporters and incite violence.
The “Donald Duck” video, the third in the Project Veritas “Rigging the Election” series, was posted Monday.
“Even if they weren’t working for the DNC, if they were Democrats and they were instigating violence, this is horrific,” Mr. Tapper said.
Mr. Mook responded, “It’s unacceptable for anyone from either party to do that.”
“But, again, no one who was working for the DNC or the Clinton campaign was doing that,” Mr. Mook said. “This is again an attempt by Donald Trump to distract from the real issues of this campaign. He’s spiraling after his last debate, and he doesn’t want to talk about substance.”
Mr. Creamer stepped down from the campaign last week, while Mr. Foval was fired.
Project Veritas’s James O’Keefe said he plans to release more videos as part of the undercover sting operation.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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