Campaign 2016 Trump

A protestor dressed as Donald Duck stands outside where Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is to speak at a rally in Dimondale, Mich.. Friday, Aug. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

(Gerald Herbert)

You're probably accustomed to seeing Donald Duck at Disneyland and University of Oregon football games.*

But those aren't the only places you could catch sight of the famous fowl in recent months. Donald Duck has also shown up at some Donald Trump events, where he's held up signs demanding the GOP presidential nominee release his tax returns.

Now conservative videographer James O'Keefe makes the case that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton herself called for the duck to stalk The Donald.

"If the future president wants ducks, we will put ducks on the ground," Democratic strategist Robert Creamer apparently says on the latest O'Keefe video.

Republican operatives claim this comment proves illegal collusion between the Clinton campaign and independent partisan organizations. But two campaign-law experts told Business Insider that the statements made in the video, even if true, do not point to illegal campaign activity. "Groups can talk to one another," Campaign Legal Center associate counsel Brendan Fischer said. He added the rules chiefly pertain to TV ads.

Still, Trump himself picked up on O'Keefe's charge, sending out a tweet about it.

'Democratic operative caught on camera: Hillary PERSONALLY ordered 'Donald Duck' troll campaign that broke the law'https://t.co/sTreHAfYUH — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 24, 2016

O'Keefe is known for falsifying his videos through clever editing, not that this possibility seems to concern the Clinton camp.

"Wow," a Clinton spokesperson told Business Insider in a statement. "The latest so-called blockbuster video from this discredited right-wing activist who was funded by Donald Trump's sham foundation uncovers a legal ploy to highlight that the Republican nominee hasn't released his tax returns."

Trump is the only major-party presidential nominee in the past 40 years who refused to release his tax returns during the campaign.

* Just for the record, the feathered mascot ambling around the grounds at Autzen Stadium is no longer officially Donald, per a 2010 agreement between Disney and UO.

-- Douglas Perry