Mediaite and The Daily Beast have issued corrections after falsely reporting that O’Keefe Media Group (OMG) and James O’Keefe orchestrated a hidden camera operation involving U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. The video published by OMG after being submitted by an anonymous source shows Bondi discussing the FBI’s investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Contrary to the initial claims made by both outlets, OMG did not film or arrange the meeting.
In the video, Bondi is seen speaking to a self-proclaimed “nanny” at a restaurant who asked, “Do you know when the Epstein files are going to get released?” Bondi responded by saying the FBI was processing “tens of thousands of videos” involving Epstein “with little kids.”
Despite no evidence that OMG had any involvement beyond publication, Charlie Nash at Mediaite originally reported under the headline, “Attorney General Pam Bondi Was Secretly Recorded in Attempted Gotcha Meeting Arranged by James O’Keefe.” The article stated Bondi had been secretly recorded “during a sting conducted by conservative activist James O’Keefe” and added that the footage was captured by “an undercover journalist.”
Following a retraction request, Mediaite updated the headline to say “Attorney General Pam Bondi Was Secretly Recorded in Video Published by James O’Keefe.” The outlet added, “This story has been updated to reflect the fact that O’Keefe Media Group merely published the undercover recording sent to them by an anonymous source and did not arrange the meeting with Bondi.”
Janna Brancolini at The Daily Beast published a similar error under the headline, “Pam Bondi Spilled Epstein Secrets to Bogus ‘Nanny’ at Brunch.” The article originally claimed that the woman who approached Bondi was “hired by James O’Keefe to pose as a nanny.” Brancolini claimed the person was, “pretending to be a nanny,” and was, “wearing a hidden camera for O’Keefe Media Group.” These statements have since been removed, following a retraction request.
The revised headline now reads: “Pam Bondi Spilled Epstein Secrets to Random Stranger at Brunch,” and the article was amended to clarify that, “O’Keefe Media Group… shared a 15-second clip of the encounter on Thursday” which was “apparently shot with a hidden camera.” A footnote was also added: “This article has updated to include additional information from O’Keefe Media Group.”
The inaccuracies stemmed from incorrect assumptions about the footage’s origin. Neither outlet contacted OMG for verification before publication.
