CA woman to plead guilty to paying people to register to vote, undercover video credited

WASHINGTON (TNND) — A Los Angeles County woman has agreed to plead guilty to paying people on Los Angeles’ Skid Row to register to vote.

Federal officials announced the felony count of paying another person to register to vote against Brenda Lee Brown Armstrong this week, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison.

We’re committed to protecting the integrity of all American elections at the DOJ Civil Rights Division but there needs to be a commitment from people and leaders here in California,” Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, Harmeet Dhillon, said while announcing the charge.

According to her plea agreement, for nearly two decades, Brown Armstrong worked as a petition circulator. Being paid by coordinators to gather signatures to qualify initiatives, recalls and referendums for California state ballots. She allegedly paid the homeless around $2 or $3 to fill out voter registration forms, instructing them to use her own former LA residence. When asked what led federal officials to her, they pointed to an undercover video taken by Independent Journalist James O’Keefe and the O’Keefe Media Group.

Because you haven’t registered, I need to register you so I can get paid too. I’m paying you guys, I need to get paid, come on now,” Brown Armstrong can be heard saying on the video.

“I think that was widely reported and it was all over the press and as a result of that, initiated and opened up a criminal investigation with the FBI,” added First Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, Bill Essayli, who was alongside Dhillon while announcing the charge.

White House & Pentagon Correspondent with O’Keefe Media Group, Michael Casey, was with the team on Skid Row, filming undercover. He told The National News Desk on Tuesday that these federal charges prove their hard work paid off.

It wasn’t just a slap on the wrist; this is an actual real result. This is a guilty plea, I think, is just the beginning. So, this is the fruit of our labor paying off right now,” Casey said.

Casey added that with this guilty plea, the “dam has broken,” as he expects more indictments to be handed down.

She is pleading guilty for a reason. She pled guilty right off the bat. She’s definitely naming names. She’s definitely telling people what her sources were, who her contacts were, who was directing her to do this illegal activity and I think and I hope that is going to lead to much more indictments,” said Casey.

A thought echoed by federal officials while they announced Brown Armstrong’s charge.

This is an ongoing active investigation. Ms. Brown is simply the first person that we are announcing charges for in this investigation resulting from some undercover videos that took place at Skid Row,” Essayli said.