Conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe said he broke no laws when he shot undercover video and a phone call of filmmakers agreeing to accept funding for an environmentalist movie and hide the fact that a Middle East sheikh was footing the bill.
O'Keefe's group, Project Veritas, shot secret video of filmmakers Josh and Rebecca Tickell, who met an actor posing as a sheikh at the Polo Lounge of the Beverly Hills Hotel. Actors Ed Begley Jr. and Mariel Hemingway are also seen in the video, which O'Keefe currently is showing at the Cannes Film Festival.
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The man posing as the oil sheikh promised $9 million in funding if the Tickells promised not to divulge their source. He told them that fracking would make the United States energy independent and would hurt his own bottom line.
The Tickells tell him they are happy to accept the money on those conditions because they both have the same interest in preventing fracking.
O'Keefe appeared Wednesday on Fox News Channel's
"The Kelly File" saying he questions their motives.
"We know that movies like 'Promised Land' with Matt Damon were funded by Imagenation Abu Dhabi," he said.
The Hollywood Reporter quoted a spokesman for the Tickells who said the secret recording has been reported to local and federal authorities. O'Keefe told Fox News that the recording was made in a public place, and does not violate California consent laws.
O'Keefe also said he has talked to members of Congress investigating the legality of movies being funded secretly.
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