The back story behind Donald Trump’s charge that Hillary Clinton was responsible for plans to incite violence at a campaign rally for the Republican candidate is told by the Chicago Sun-Times. Robert Creamer of Illinois, whose consulting firm is a Democratic National Committee contractor, said he was “stepping aside” from that role after an undercover video from a conservative group suggested his workers had a hand in triggering confrontations outside and inside Trump rallies. Creamer is the husband of Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Il.). He appears in the undercover video posted by a conservative investigative not-for-profit organization, Project Veritas Action.
The video, which had more than 4 million views as of yesterday, focuses on a Trump complaint that outside agitators trigger fights at his rallies. Project Veritas Action, founded by James O’Keefe, has been criticized for selectively editing videos from its undercover operations aimed at liberal or Democratic allied organizations. Before last night’s presidential debate, O’Keefe asked whether Clinton would “disavow her lieutenant, Bob Creamer, whose foot soldiers have been inciting violence at political rallies?” Creamer told the Sun-Times that O’Keefe’s allegations that he and his firm had a role in inciting violence at Trump events “are completely untrue.” He also said he is stepping aside because “I do not wish to be a distraction to the important task of electing Hillary Clinton and defeating Donald Trump.”