NIH Contractor CONFRONTED | Calls Actions a “Foolish Mistake” After Admitting to Crime on Hidden Cam

[00:00:00] Who did you think you were going to meet [00:00:01] with me uh tonight? [00:00:03] >> Jessica. [00:00:04] >> So Jessica actually works for me. I'm an [00:00:07] investigative reporter. My name is James [00:00:10] O'Keefe and uh you're on camera [00:00:14] as part of a undercover investigation. [00:00:17] And in this recording, you're bragging. [00:00:21] >> They have these four liked [00:00:25] >> goutudy photos. Trump, JD Vans, RFK, the [00:00:29] head director of NIH that they [00:00:30] appointed, and I just decided to just [00:00:32] rip him off the wall. Then I put him in [00:00:34] the trash by the front door. [00:00:40] >> Now I'm looking back cuz that was a [00:00:42] foolish mistake. [00:00:44] >> A foolish mistake [00:00:45] >> to to destroy the famous [00:00:51] edgy. [00:00:52] >> Edgy. [00:00:54] >> Edgy like a bad boy. Badass that bad [00:00:57] boy. [00:00:58] >> Nothing makes a girl hornier than taking [00:01:01] down those paintings off the wall of [00:01:04] Trump. Right. [00:01:07] If she was leaning left, [00:01:10] >> she's going to get in the bed and do the [00:01:12] dirty thing. [00:01:13] >> I don't know, dude. This is a Tinder [00:01:15] date gone horribly wrong. I thought I [00:01:18] was going to meet a chicken. [00:01:20] >> Are you going to go to jail? James [00:01:22] O'Keefe outside the National Institute [00:01:24] [music] of Health. I actually caught up [00:01:26] with Joseph Mor at a cafe in Washington [00:01:29] DC and I confronted him and he gave me a [00:01:33] fake name. [00:01:34] >> Joseph is a seat taken. Are you Joseph? [00:01:38] Do you like art? [00:01:41] >> I love those paintings. Those gouty [00:01:44] paintings of Trump and JD Vance are some [00:01:46] of my favorite paintings actually. Your [00:01:48] name is actually Joseph Mer. Is that [00:01:51] your real name? [clears throat] [00:01:54] >> Not my last name. [00:01:55] >> What's your real last name? [00:01:58] >> B. [00:02:00] >> He gave me a fake phone number. So, I [00:02:04] sat down and asked him to call me, then [00:02:06] got his real number. [00:02:07] >> I'm just going to text you right now. [00:02:08] What's your number? [00:02:13] >> And is that actually your number? Cuz [00:02:14] people lie about I'm going to call you [00:02:16] to see if that's actually your number. [00:02:17] You're going to get a a call to see if [00:02:19] that actually works. [00:02:24] >> Sounds like a woman. Not like your phone [00:02:26] number. [00:02:28] >> Did you just lie and give me a fake [00:02:30] number? [00:02:30] >> Sorry. No, no, no, no, no. I have two. [00:02:33] >> Sounds like a good deal. Two numbers. [00:02:37] >> That was my old one. I just changed. [00:02:39] >> Okay. Why don't I give you my phone [00:02:42] number and you can text me. How's that [00:02:43] sound? [00:02:44] >> Sure. [00:02:45] AT&T records indicates he is indeed [00:02:48] Joseph Mer. [00:02:49] >> Are you a federal employee? [00:02:51] >> Yes or no? [00:02:54] >> You're not a federal employee. [music] [00:02:57] >> You don't work for National Institute of [00:02:58] Health. [00:03:01] [music] [00:03:01] >> You lied about working for the National [00:03:03] Institute of Health. [00:03:07] >> So, basically, I work on the back end of [00:03:09] all of the water quality like [00:03:14] mechanical infiltration system. Say [00:03:17] >> that's a pretty elaborate lie. Say you [00:03:20] work for the federal government and you [00:03:22] work on [music] the mechanical [00:03:23] infiltration systems. [00:03:24] >> All I wanted is to sound oppressive to a [00:03:26] girl [00:03:26] >> to a girl. Not not a very good [00:03:28] foundation for for a sustainable [00:03:32] relationship though, is it? [music] [00:03:33] Because what happens when this girl [00:03:34] finds out that you don't work for NIH? [00:03:40] >> He kept saying, "I don't work in the [00:03:43] government. I don't work for the [00:03:44] government." Well, it turns out at the [00:03:46] time I didn't really know exactly if [00:03:48] that was true or false. Even for a [00:03:50] moment I believed him. Well, it turns [00:03:51] out he actually does work as a [00:03:53] contractor for the government. We were [00:03:55] able to find his name in the employee [00:03:57] directory. [music] We actually reached [00:03:58] out to NIH for comment and they [00:04:00] confirmed to us on background that [00:04:02] Joseph Mer [music] is a contractor [00:04:05] within the animal research branch of the [00:04:07] NIH. Joseph Mer proceeded to give me a [00:04:10] fake name and then he gave me a fake [00:04:14] phone number. So it begged the question [00:04:15] at the time whether I could trust [00:04:17] anything that actually comes out of his [00:04:18] mouth. These people do anything to cover [00:04:21] their tracks. [00:04:22] >> Did you lie about [00:04:24] the paintings? [00:04:27] I was trying to impress [00:04:29] coming up with this idea of how [00:04:35] [snorts] [00:04:36] to politicalology. [00:04:38] >> You're trying to make her horny by [00:04:40] saying you're destroying government [00:04:41] property. [00:04:44] >> Edgy [00:04:45] >> edgy. [00:04:47] >> Edgy like a bad boy. A badass. Bad bad [00:04:50] boy. Do you think Charlie Kirk deserves [00:04:52] to get uh killed? [00:04:54] >> No. No one deserves [00:04:57] >> smacked in the How about smacked in the [00:04:58] face? [00:04:59] >> I don't [music] violence. I don't think [00:05:01] violence. [00:05:03] >> You don't [00:05:04] >> don't get courage. It's a bad person. If [00:05:06] you spread hate, I kind of believe if [00:05:08] you spread hate, then you deserve to get [00:05:10] smacked in the mouth or expect something [00:05:12] bad to happen. [00:05:13] >> What does it mean to get smacked in the [00:05:15] mouth? [00:05:17] [music] [00:05:21] >> I see. Okay. [00:05:24] So, was I talking to you this whole [00:05:25] time? [00:05:26] >> You mean was that me in a wig? [00:05:28] >> No, like texting. [00:05:32] >> You were talking to one of my [00:05:33] colleagues? Yeah. [00:05:37] >> Hello, Darkness, my old friend. [00:05:41] >> So, did I have to pay for her? [00:05:46] >> Did you have to pay for her date? That's [00:05:49] up to you, buddy. It's up to you. [00:05:53] Do you want me to reimburse you for the [00:05:55] date? Is that what you want? [00:05:57] >> How much was it? [00:06:01] >> I might be able to make that happen if [00:06:04] that's if that's the concern. [00:06:07] >> Yeah. How hot was she? [00:06:12] >> Nine or 10? [00:06:13] >> Nine. Nine or 10? She's a 10. [00:06:15] >> She's very attractive. [00:06:16] >> Are you going to continue to to lie to [00:06:18] women to impress them? [00:06:21] >> [music] [00:06:25] >> probably. Yeah. [00:06:28] >> My advice is not to do that. [00:06:34] >> Maybe it's time for you to start doing [00:06:35] something with your life. You know, [00:06:40] >> you're asking me for a job. [00:06:48] >> The problem I have is that I [00:06:52] I don't know if I can hire you because [00:06:54] you've lied about something like this to [00:06:57] impress somebody. So, [00:07:00] >> my my people don't do that. We don't we [00:07:02] don't lie. So, I I won't hire you. [00:07:06] I mean what would you do this situation [00:07:14] [music] [00:07:15] not having a job [00:07:20] and be impressed be impressive do [00:07:22] something in your life that warrants [00:07:24] being impressive. [00:07:27] >> Focus on improving yourself [00:07:30] so that you don't have to resort to [00:07:32] lying. [00:07:34] Do something that makes other people [00:07:35] proud of you. You enjoy rock climbing. [00:07:38] Enjoy the outdoors. Then go do that [00:07:40] stuff. I've repaired trails and upstate [00:07:42] New York when I was on probation. [00:07:46] Do something that you enjoy [00:07:49] and be someone that you can be proud of [00:07:51] so you don't have to lie. That's what I [00:07:53] would focus on yourself so that you will [00:07:56] attract the right person. [00:08:00] >> Oh, he's taking a video of me. [00:08:03] Is he taking a video? [00:08:04] >> Yes, he is. [00:08:05] >> All right. [00:08:06] >> Hey, I couldn't help but notice. Are you [00:08:08] taking a video of me? [00:08:10] >> Yeah. [00:08:10] >> Why is that? [00:08:11] >> Snapchat. [00:08:12] >> You're taking a video and put Why you [00:08:13] put on Snapchat? [00:08:15] >> Cuz I feel like this whole experience is [00:08:17] like kind of crazy. [00:08:18] >> Oh, got set up by a reporter and a [00:08:21] Tinder date. [00:08:22] >> Tinder dates. Yep. [00:08:24] >> This is weird. [00:08:25] >> Why? [00:08:27] >> I don't know, dude. This was a Tinder [00:08:29] date gone horribly wrong. bad. [00:08:31] >> Yeah. [00:08:31] >> Thought I was going to be a chicken. [00:08:34] >> Are you going to go to jail? [00:08:36] >> No, I'm not really concerned about that. [00:08:37] >> No. [00:08:38] >> Now, Joseph Mert may not be concerned, [00:08:40] but in a response to a request for [00:08:42] comment, the NIH informed us that quote, [00:08:44] "The NIH police is looking into it." [00:08:47] >> Nothing makes a girl hornier than taking [00:08:51] down those paintings off the wall of [00:08:54] Trump. Right. [00:08:57] And if she was leaning left, [00:09:00] >> she's going to get in the the bed and do [00:09:02] the dirty thing. [00:09:03] >> All right, Joe. We got to go. We really [00:09:05] do have to go now. Thank you. [00:09:08] >> Call me. [00:09:09] >> Call me. [00:09:10] >> Okay. [00:09:11] >> In the wake of this report, Congressman [00:09:12] Tim Burchett has called for Joseph to be [00:09:14] fired and NIH Director Jay Budachara has [00:09:18] ordered an official investigation into [00:09:19] his actions. Stay tuned.