Patrick Marley

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Madison — Undercover videos released this week feature a Democratic activist bragging about disrupting a rally for Gov. Scott Walker last year, talking about bringing people into Wisconsin from out of state and decrying Midwesterners as racist.

The videos, released in two parts, were made by James O’Keefe, the conservative activist responsible for videos in 2009 that resulted in the dismantling of the community organizing group ACORN. Democrats have criticized him for misleading viewers by heavily editing his recordings.

The secretly recorded videos feature extended comments from Scott Foval, who has long been involved in politics in Wisconsin and recently performed work for liberal groups People for the American Way and Americans United for Change. CNN reported Foval had been fired because of the videos released this week.

In the videos, Foval said half of Iowans are racist, adding, “Wisconsin is just as bad.”

He said he was responsible for planting protesters at a Walker event at the Iowa State Fair when Walker was ramping up a run for president. Walker drew national headlines for confronting the protesters, whom the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported at the time as having come from Wisconsin, not Iowa.

“That was us,” Foval said in one video. “We planted multiple people in that front area around him and in the back to make sure there wasn’t just an action that happened up front, there was also a reaction that happened out back.”

While drinking at a bar, Foval also discussed bringing people from out of state into Wisconsin, though he didn't say why. O’Keefe portrayed the comments as part of a scheme to engage in voter fraud.

“It’s a very easy thing for Republicans to say, ‘Well, they’re busing people in,' ” Foval said. “You know what, we’ve been busing people in to deal with you (expletive) for 50 years and we’re not going to stop now.”

As part of that exchange, Foval talked about the value of having people use cars instead of a bus.

“If the car has a Wisconsin license and it’s owned by a third entity, then it’s much harder to prove that these people drove in from out of state,” he said. “There’s no bus involved so you can’t prove conspiracy.”

Foval did not respond to emails and a phone message on Tuesday.

Democrats argued it was unclear what Foval was talking about in the videos, saying he could have been speaking hypothetically or discussing bringing in volunteers or protesters, rather than voters. They described Foval as a bit player who was bragging at the bar.

The videos surface at a time when Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is repeatedly talking about a "rigged election" in his race against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.) said the videos should trigger an investigation and show the need for the state's voter ID law.

"It doesn't surprise me at all," Grothman said. "We always thought this is why some people fight photo ID."

Little voter fraud that could be prevented by an ID law has been detected in Wisconsin.

In the 2009 videos, O'Keefe and a woman posed as a pimp and prostitute while they secretly recorded ACORN workers who were giving them tax advice. They laid out criminal activities and asked ACORN workers how they could hide them and keep from paying taxes.

ACORN declared bankruptcy and folded after the videos became public.

Jason Stein of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.