• Politics

Conservative Sting Video Goes Inside Clinton Campaign Training

2 minute read

The conservative group Project Veritas released a video Wednesday morning showing a glimpse of its long-anticipated undercover video sting inside the Clinton campaign.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” says James O’Keefe, the group’s founder in the clip.

Filmed by hidden camera by Project Veritas supporters posing as Clinton volunteers, the video shows a Clinton campaign staffer discussing strategies for targeting voter registration efforts. The campaign’s policy is to register all those who ask to register, a fact the staffer repeats.

But the staffer is also seen encouraging the “volunteer” to first ask whether the Iowans they encounter are Clinton supporters before asking if they are registered to vote. “We don’t want to make our focus be voter registration, because then we have to, like, register everyone regardless of whether they’re supporters or not,” the Clinton organizer is shown saying.

Nothing in the video shows the Clinton campaign violating the law, or the campaign’s own policy. But Veritas claims, nonetheless, that the campaign is “skirting the law” by first asking whether potential voters are supporters before making the registration offer. This approach to training volunteers is standard operating procedure across field campaigns, according to a Republican field staffer, who requested anonymity.

The Clinton campaign put its offices on alert nationwide last week after catching wind of the Project Veritas effort, warning about the potential for more attempts to infiltrate its campaign. Other schemes identified by the Clinton campaign included efforts to convince staffers and volunteers to accept potentially illegal contributions.

In the video, a Veritas supporter is seen greeting Clinton and posing for a photo with her, though it is not clear whether their interaction yielded anything of note. “Stay tuned Hillary, because we’re shortly going to release a stunning story of electoral malfeasance at the highest levels of your campaign,” O’Keefe says. “Check your email.”

The Clinton campaign declined to comment on the video.

Decoding Hillary Clinton's Campaign Photo Ops

hillary-clinton-campaign
Des Moines, IA - April 15: Hillary Clinton began her 2016 campaign by driving from her house in Chappaqua, N.Y., to Iowa in a van instead of flying, as she did in 2008.Justin Sullivan—Getty Images
US-VOTE-CLINTON
Marshalltown, IA - April 15: Clinton had coffee and spoke with customers during her first Iowa visit. Many of her advisors think she performs best in small groups with voters, so her campaign began with a carefully planned “listening tour."Michael B. Thomas—AFP/Getty Images
Hillary Clinton Begins Presidential Campaign In Iowa
Monticello, IA - April 14: At a community college in Iowa, Clinton said exactly what the left wanted her to say. "There's something wrong when hedge fund managers pay lower tax rates than nurses or the truckers that I saw on I-80 as I was driving here," Clinton said.Justin Sullivan—Getty Images
hillary-clinton-campaign
Keene, N.H. - April 20: Clinton’s first good baby photo-op came early in New Hampshire in the town of Keene. Her campaign has made multiple references to her new status as a grandmother.Lucas Jackson—Reuters
US-POLITICS-CAMPAIGN-CLINTON
Keene, N.H. - April 20: Clinton visited a family-owned children’s furniture factory to talk small business and manufacturing. Planks of wood, stacked boxes and heavy machinery formed an ideal backdrop.Don Emmert—AFP/Getty Images
hillary-clinton-campaign
Keene, N.H. - April 20: Clinton chose a casual setting to brush off questions over the Clinton Foundation’s acceptance of donations during her time as secretary of state. She called allegations that she intervened on behalf of donors “distractions.” Don Emmert—AFP/Getty Images
Hillary Clinton Begins New Hampshire Election Campaign
Concord, N.H. - April 21: Clinton got a chance to talk student debt with young women at a community college in Concord, New Hampshire. “You cannot expect people to have that much debt and then be expected to pay it off,” she said.Andrew Burton—Getty Images
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks with long time friend and political adviser Mary Louise Hancock on April 21, 2015, in Concord, N.H.
Concord, N.H. - April 21: Clinton paid her dues with a required visit for Democratic hopefuls in New Hampshire: a gathering at the home of 94-year-old former state Sen. Mary Louise Hancock, the so-called grand dame of New Hampshire politics.Jim Cole—AP
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) takes part in a roundtable of young Nevadans discussing immigration as she campaigns for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination at Rancho High School in Las Vegas, on May 5, 2015.
Las Vegas, NV - May 5: Clinton discussed immigration with a roundtable in Las Vegas, Nevada, a primary state with a heavy population of Hispanic immigrants, calling for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Mike Blake—Reuters

Read next: Why Bernie Sanders Won’t Add Debates Without Hillary Clinton

Download TIME’s mobile app for iOS to have your world explained wherever you go

More Must-Reads From TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com