James O’Keefe, the boyish conservative activist who rose to prominence for secretly filming employees at ACORN, has settled a court case by agreeing to pay $100,000 and apologize to a fired employee. The settlement marks a notable defeat for a man once lauded as a investigative folk hero.

Wonkette first leaked the details of the deal.

In 2009, O’Keefe and partner Hannah Giles posed as a prostitute and her boyfriend seeking financial advice at ACORN, an organization most notably know for successful voter registration drives among minorities that effectively benefit liberal and Democratic candidates. Because of the videos, ACORN lost funding, conspiracy theories abounded, and several employees were fired.

This and most of O’Keefe’s videos have been criticized for being heavily edited and manipulated.

Because the secret videos were filmed in California, they were illegal. That state requires all parties in a conversation to consent to recording. Surprisingly, only a handful of states have these “all-party” consent laws, and O’Keefe could have avoided the problem by filming elsewhere.

This isn’t the first time the muckraker has settled a legal dispute over his recordings. In 2010,female CNN producer discovered O’Keefe’s attempt to “seduce” her on a boat during an interview, and left. CNN later reported on a 13-page plan for the operation, including pornography and sex toys. The woman reportedly received a five-figure deal from O’Keefe’s Project Veritas.

Also in 2010, O’Keefe was arrested at the office of Sen. Mary Landrieu after a failed operation.

What do you think? Is O’Keefe a hero or a pest?

[via The Atlantic Wire; Image via Getty]

Bookmark to: