O’Keefe Leaves Project Veritas

Following reports that the leadership of Project Veritas was considering a personnel change, longtime journalist James O’Keefe announced his resignation from the organization.

After more than a decade with the news outlet, conservative news announced reports that he would be stepping down.

There is considerable disagreement over how O’Keefe left the organization. The Project Veritas founder contends that he did not resign at any point. Instead, he insists that he was forced out by the company’s leadership.

O’Keefe made a brief statement, stating that his position as Chairman and CEO was “stripped” from him.

https://twitter.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/1627842304374439936?s=20

The media outlet’s founder accused members of the organization of lying about his departure.

O’Keefe told Project Veritas staff that he was not sure “why this has happened now or why this is happening suddenly right now.” O’Keefe added that he was not always a “compassionate leader,” but highlighted his work ethic. 

Otherwise, there have been no major changes, he said. O’Keefe said that Project Veritas had recently broken “the biggest story in our organization’s history,” and cited more than 50 million views of the undercover interview with Pfizer director of research and development Jordon Trishton Walker.

The media founder asserted that he had not lied to the company’s audience once since he founded Project Veritas in 2010.

“Ruining our reputation in front of supporters and donors and leaking confidential information and fabricating stories- one of our ethical rules is we don’t lie to our audience.”

O’Keefe made a name for himself as one of the premiere conservative reporters due to his unique form of investigative journalism. The methods of hidden camera and microphone interviews allowed unique access to a number of major media, political and corporate organizations.

O’Keefe gained notoriety for his interviews with the left-wing organization Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN). He was arrested in 2010 during an investigation into then-Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA). 

O’Keefe’s investigative style allowed him to release a number of undercover interviews, including one with a senior vice president of National Public Radio and the New Jersey Teacher’s Union. 

O’Keefe’s efforts gained such a high profile that Project Veritas received a $10,000 donation from the Trump Foundation in 2015. He was invited by the Trump campaign to the first presidential debate.

The notoriety also came with further scrutiny from law enforcement, including an FBI raid on O’Keefe’s home in 2021.

https://youtu.be/uJET3pEWjFA

The situation is still unfolding and there will likely be considerably more information released in the coming days and weeks from O’Keefe and Project Veritas.