By TARINI PARTI
8/28/12 12:44 PM EDT
Updated: 8/29/12 7:46 AM EDT
(POLITICO) Conservative filmmaker and activist James O’Keefe wasn’t in Tampa, Fla., but the show he was supposed to headline went on as planned.
O’Keefe spoke via Skype on “the role of the citizen journalist” and took audience questions at Tuesday’s luncheon sponsored by the James Madison Institute, a Florida-based nonprofit organization.
Tanja Clendinen, the institute’s communications director said O’Keefe was not granted permission by the government to travel to Tampa.
"He is currently on probation from some of his Louisiana investigation activities, and his travel permission was revoked,” she said.
Via email, O’Keefe said the event was a success.
"The audience was pleased to learn that we are building an army of citizen journalists and investigators who are now in almost every state working to protect the American people from voter fraud by exposing deficiencies in the security of our electoral processes,” he wrote to POLITICO. “We talked about the series of highly successful and publicized voter integrity investigations which have helped to shape the debate surrounding this vital issue, and which have prompted responses from governors, attorneys general, and state legislatures since January of this year."
He added: “With respect to the handling by the government of the misdemeanor case against me, we discussed the fact that my videotape in Lousiana was destroyed and the circumstances surrounding that event, the fact I was cleared by the government of all felony charges, and whether it’s grossly disproportionate at best or unconstitutional at worst to restrict the travel of a journalist for three years following a class-B misdemeanor."
O’Keefe was sentenced to three years of probation after pleading guilty to the misdemeanor charge of entering federal property — the office of Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) — under false pretenses.
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