Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman’s office said Monday that it has received “no information” on possible illegal ballot-harvesting after Project Veritas released video on an alleged cash-for-ballots scheme to benefit Rep. Ilhan Omar and other Democrats.
“The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has received no information or cases involving so-called ballot harvesting in any elections held in Hennepin County this year,” the statement said. “If Project Veritas has evidence of election law violations, they should provide it to the Minneapolis Police Department.”
Ms. Omar’s campaign denied Monday any illegal activity, while Eric Trump said that his father’s presidential campaign would bring the matter to the attention of federal and local authorities.
“The campaign will immediately be bringing this voter fraud to the @FBI and applicable authorities in Minneapolis this morning. They are on it,” Mr. Trump tweeted.
The campaign will immediately be bringing this voter fraud to the @FBI and applicable authorities in Minneapolis this morning. They are on it. #BallotHarvesting @JamesOKeefeIII
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) September 28, 2020
pic.twitter.com/Jqa6vZtwzZ
The video showed a man identified as Liban Mohamed bragging on Snapchat that he had a car “full” of absentee ballots, while others told Project Veritas investigators that canvassers collected absentee ballots, some unmarked, en masse from elderly voters in apartment buildings.
Other voters were allegedly driven to polling places and paid cash after casting ballots, according to a woman identified as a “political worker” who said operatives were carrying “bags of money.”
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman’s office says it has “no information” on possible illegal #ballotharvesting after Project Veritas sting. #MNpol pic.twitter.com/QEaObYLop8
— Valerie Richardson (@ValRichardson17) September 28, 2020
In its statement, Mr. Freeman’s office said that someone who identified herself as “Megan” recently contacted the office with concerns about ballot harvesting, and she was referred to local law enforcement.
“The Minnesota Legislature has designated local police departments as the agency responsible for investigating those types of allegations,” said the office. “They would then send the completed investigation to the county attorney’s office for possible charges. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office takes those cases very seriously and after every even-year election, we usually file a dozen or so cases involving some type of election violations, primarily felons voting despite still being on probation.”
Ballot-harvesting is legal in Minnesota, but the limit is three ballots per canvasser per election, although that law is now the subject of a court battle.
Both President Trump and the Minneapolis Republican Party have called for an investigation into possible fraud.
Project Veritas reported that Assistant County Attorney Jeff Wojceikowski told its investigator on a recorded line that the conduct described as “illegal, and we will be investigating.”
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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