James O’Keefe To Speak At SMU, Days After His Group’s Apparent Sting Was Thwarted

Five stories that have North Texas talking: Project Veritas founder to speak at SMU about investigative journalism; how much Texas has received and spent on Harvey recovery; the fate of CHIP; and more.

James O’Keefe, the founder of a conservative group known for undercover investigations, will speak at Southern Methodist University Wednesday night.

He’ll speak about media bias at 7 p.m. at the SMU Hughes-Trigg Theater. The student group that invited him says the event is open to the public.

Project Veritas has been linked to a woman who falsely told The Washington Post that Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore impregnated her as a teenager, the newspaper reported.

Moore recently has been accused of multiple instances of sexual misconduct. But the Post determined that one accuser, who approached the newspaper earlier in the month, made up a fake story likely designed to embarrass the newspaper.

The Post published a story Monday about its dealings with the accuser, identified as Jaime Phillips. Earlier in the day, reporters from the newspaper saw Phillips walking into the New York offices of Project Veritas, which has a history of targeting Democratic groups and major media outlets, including NPR, often by hiding their identities and using hidden cameras, according to The Associated Press.

The Post reports O’Keefe was convicted of a misdemeanor in 2010 for using a fake identity to enter a federal building during a previous sting.

He’s been invited by SMU student group Young Americans for Freedom to speak about his experience in investigative journalism.

The group issued a statement on Facebook about the SMU event.  

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• Harvey’s growing tab: Texas leaders have estimated it will take up to $121 billion in federal funds to rebuild public infrastructure and housing. Here’s how much money the state has received so far for recovery and how it has been spent. [The Texas Tribune]

• Crunch time: If Congress fails to save the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), thousands of kids and pregnant women in Texas will lose their coverage. Texas needs federal funding to run the program. Officials say it's set to run out of money Jan. 31. [KUT]

• In high-brow news: Portions of the Nancy Lee and Perry R. Bass art collection, including pieces by Vincent Van Gogh and Henri Matisse, were sold at a New York auction earlier this month for $165 million. [Fort Worth Star-Telegram]

• Happy (belated) birthday: Longtime Dallasite and champion runner Orville Rogers turned 100 Tuesday. "I live life with a capital L," he told GuideLive. 

The High Five is KERA’s daily roundup of stories from Dallas-Fort Worth and across the state. Explore our archives here. And sign up for our weekly email for the North Texas news you need to know.