Hillary Clinton personally ordered a consultant to use a nonprofit group to troll the Trump campaign with a 'Donald Duck' mascot, according to the Democratic operatives who say they arranged it with a nonprofit organization.

The action, if true, would be a black-letter violation of federal election law, which prohibits presidential campaigns from coordinating activities with outside groups that can collect unlimited 'dark money' from contributors – and don't pay taxes on what they collect.

The conservative muckraking group Project Veritas Action released video footage on Monday showing Robert Creamer, a convicted felon who was forced out of his executive role at the liberal consultancy Democracy Partners, saying Clinton chose the duck stunt.

'In the end, it was the candidate, Hillary Clinton, the future president of the United States, who wanted ducks on the ground. So by God we would get ducks on the ground,' Creamer says in the video.

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The Americans United for Change-sponsored Donald Duck lookalike mascot has trolled Donald Trump outside campaign events and his real estate properties for months. In this photo, the duck protests outside the newly opened Trump International Hotel in Washington

Caught on camera: The footage shows felon Robert Creamer, who has now been forced out of campaigning, boasting that Hillary Clinton was behind an attack on Trump

By any means: What the undercover camera caught the liberal consultancy staff saying

The far-left nonprofit Americans United for Change was tasked with carrying out the work.

AUFC is tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(4) of the federal tax code, allowing it to conduct limited amounts of electioneering as long as it doesn't directly advocate voting for or against candidates.

It also doesn't have to publicly identify its donors, distinguishing it from super PACs which must disclose their income sources but can electioneer more aggressively.

The Federal Election Commission prohibits campaigns from working with outside groups where a tangible dollar amount is tied to back-and-forth communications.

Money spent to buy the duck costume, pay staff to wear it, and publicize each campaign stunt would be considered an illegal campaign contribution to Hillary For America.

The Clinton campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Hillary Clinton personally asked for the duck to be deployed instead of an Uncle Sam character, according to the Democratic operative who says he arranged it – which would be considered an illegal campaign contribution since a tax-exempt nonprofit did the work

AUFC's duck costume has been a staple in front of Trump Tower and at the Republican presidential nominee's campaign events in recent months.

Project Veritas Action is the same group that upended the campaign environment this week with video showing Creamer and a subcontractor describing their efforts to 'birddog' Trump events by sending activists into his rallies with instructions to start physical fights.

They were also caught on camera describing a scheme to bus Americans across state lines to commit voter fraud.

James O'Keefe the Project Veritas Action founder, has become a major conservative player in this year's battle of October surprises. Trump's campaign brought him to last week's final presidential debate in Las Vegas, and the candidate himself referenced his videos on stage.

'If it looks like a duck, if it walks like a duck, and if it sounds like a duck ... then it's probably a duck,' he said in Monday's video. 'They broke the law.'

Creamer, whose wife is Illinois Democratic congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, has visited the Obama White House 342 times, according to official records. He met with the president at least once in the Oval Office, despite his criminal conviction for bank fraud.

Robert Creamer, a convicted fraudster, is married to Illinois Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky

Creamer's Oval Office visit and others in the West Wing and the White House residence – 342 in all – are chronicled in the Obama administration's own official visitor logs

When the undercover interviewer says, 'So it's her. Wow,' Creamer lets the cat out of the bag and adds: 'Don't repeat that to anybody.'

'She really wanted this duck figure doing this stuff,' he says.

Creamer says the original plan was to have an Uncle Sam-costumed man instead of the duck, baiting Trump to release his personal income tax returns.

That costume would have been far easier to buy and license, since the Walt Disney Company owns the rights to the Donald Duck character.

Hillary For America Deputy Communications Director Christina Reynolds called Creamer personally to relay the message from the Democratic presidential nominee, he declares on tape.

'Christina Reynolds calls,' he says, 'saying, "I have good news and bad news. The good news is the candidate would like to have a mascot following around ... Trump. But the bad news is she wants it to be Donald Duck."

'My answer is, "Christine, if the future president wants ducks, we will put ducks on the ground,' he boasts.

Hillary Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook insisted on Sunday that Creamer and his underlings have never had any contact with the campaign, something that Creamer's hidden-camera confession now disputes

Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said Sunday on CNN's 'State of the Union' program that Creamer and his staff have 'never had a relationship with the Clinton campaign.'

The Wall Street Journal reported in August that the Democratic National Committee launched the 'duck' campaign, Three weeks later, however, the liberal advocacy group Americans United for Change took over the operation.

'The DNC is no longer associated with the duck,' the Journal's Law Blog reported.

DNC press assistant Jenna Price told the Project Veritas provocateurs that the party was still involved, however.

'We kind of divvy up responsibilities,' she says in the video.

'So sometimes it will be, like, campaign owned. So sometimes you will see that they advised something, or they are taking credit for things. So, like, we aren't taking credit for the duck anymore. That's like, random ally groups. But it's still something that we're involved in.'

Adam Hodge, the DNC's communications director, told DailyMail.com in a statement that the 'discredited' O'Keefe 'is well known for doctoring videos to advance his ideological agenda.'