News/Commentary

Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe is out after internal power struggle: ‘He’ll be fine. They won’t.’

February 20, 2023 | | Print Article

Reports are breaking that Project Veritas CEO James O’Keefe has either been removed or resigned from the conservative investigative company he founded that exposed so many leftist coverups and allowed Americans a glimpse at what was truly going on behind the scenes.

The development comes after weeks of butting heads with his board and an alleged effort of 16 of his employees to oust him from the leadership of the company that he began in 2011. They claimed he was difficult to work for and once even stole a sandwich.

O’Keefe shared an emotional video Monday on YouTube, commenting on being removed from the company he founded and made into a political player that could not be ignored. In the footage, he said the only thing that has changed at the company over the last 13 years is that Project Veritas broke the “biggest story” in its history, which was the story about Pfizer allegedly mutating the Covid-19 virus.

After a dispute with the board of directors, O’Keefe was ostensibly placed on paid leave earlier this month. The board reversed the firing of two top executives that he gave the boot. Unhappy employees sent the board a long memo detailing his alleged “outright cruel” conduct.

“The undersigned is troubled and frustrated with James’ management style and business acumen,” the letter began. “These behaviors and actions are antithetical to our core values, and it came to a head this week. Most recently, the treatment of Barry Hinckley and Tom O’Hara.”

The staffers involved are listed as Michael Villani, Eric Spracklen, Mario Balaban, Jake Mantel, Patrick Van Duyne, Sal Gueli Journalists: Arden Young, Preston Scagnelli, Bobby Harr (Lithium), Bethany Rolando, Joanne Sumner, Gillian Pietrowski, Jonathan Bailey, Joshua Hughes, Nick Mehaj, and Angelo Martinez.

They reportedly claimed in the letter that “James has become a power-drunk tyrant and he is exactly who he pontificates on who we should be exposing.”

Another statement included an instance where O’Keefe allegedly called Spencer Meads a “p-ssy.”

“James went as far as to call Spencer a p-ssy in Vegas, and Spencer heard him say it. Both of these guys were mission-driven and suffered through it. They were raided and James still called Spencer that name – he never forgave them for making a decision to leave for their own mental well-being,” the letter charged.

O’Keefe made his bones targeting journalists and leftist groups in hidden-camera stings. He will now venture out on his own and it remains to be seen if the company can survive without him. Many don’t believe it can.

News traveled quickly that O’Keefe had been sidelined. It engendered outrage from conservatives who feel that Project Veritas will no longer be credible without him.

In a strange and disturbing tweet last week, the board asserted that O’Keefe was “alive and well” as it tried to right the ship. It evidently didn’t work. The board then put out a statement just days before O’Keefe resigned insisting that its members “all love James.”

Neil McCabe, a reporter at conservative cable channel One America News, was the first to announce O’Keefe’s resignation. He used to work for the Project Veritas legend. The reporter told The Daily Beast that O’Keefe resigned from the group without bothering to strike a severance deal with the board.

“He just resigns and walks out the door to start a new life,” McCabe remarked. “Now we’ll see: does the organization he created survive?”

Shortly after McCabe’s announcement, Project Veritas’ RC Maxwell stated that the report was inaccurate, “This is not accurate. James was removed from his position as CEO by the Project Veritas board. They are in charge now.”

Project Veritas claims they are confident they will continue to deliver on the mission O’Keefe set out for them, whether he is in charge of the project or not.

“The big wig donors to Project Veritas are not taking the board actions against James O’Keefe lying down,” a source stated, according to the Post Millenial. “Looks like they have hired a big-name law firm that sent a letter which seems to suggest the board is running afoul of Virginia law and exposing themselves to substantial liability!”

A Cease and Desist letter was sent to the Project Veritas board of directors by law firm Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders, pointing out that the “firm represents a large group of significant donors to Project Veritas.”

The donors “have grave concerns about the Board of Directors’ reported the action to remove Founder and CEO James O’Keefe from his leadership position, change the structure of the Project Veritas entities and their Boards (raising risks for the entities’ charitable status), and operate Project Veritas for purposes other than those for which the organization was established.”

“By threatening or taking these actions,” the letter states, “the Board is straying from its roots and the express purpose for which it raised considerable funds from the public, including our clients.”

“We are concerned that the Board may already be acting in violation of Virginia charitable solicitation and trust law and ask that the Board refrain from taking further actions to fundamentally undermine the purposes for which Project Veritas be established,” it continues.

O’Keefe leaving Project Veritas set Twitter on fire:

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Terresa Monroe-Hamilton
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