James O’Keefe Placed on Paid Leave from Project Veritas, to be removed from board

[Anti Federalist]

Report: James O’Keefe Placed on Paid Leave from Project Veritas

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/202...oject-veritas/

By Jim Hoft
Published February 8, 2023 at 9:16pm

On Wednesday New York Magazine reported that James O’Keefe was placed on paid leave from Project Veritas and will be taking a few weeks of “well-deserved PTO.”

The Gateway Pundit reached out to James for comment.

We will post any updates when we hear back from our sources.

UPDATE: We spoke with a Project Veritas source and we are waiting to report more.




NY Mag reported:

James O’Keefe, the founder and chairman of Project Veritas, has taken a paid leave from the conservative nonprofit media organization as its board considers whether to remove him from his leadership position, according to current and former employees of the organization.

An internal message sent to Project Veritas employees by the organization’s executive director, Daniel Strack, said that O’Keefe would be taking “a few weeks of well-deserved PTO.” An image of the message was shared by a source familiar with the organization’s internal operations, and its authenticity was confirmed by a current employee. When reached for comment on his personal cell phone, O’Keefe said nothing in response and did not respond to follow-up calls and text messages. Through a Project Veritas spokesman, Strack later released a statement on behalf of the organization. “Like all newsrooms at this stage, the Project Veritas Board of Directors and Management are constantly evaluating what the best path forward is for the organization,” the statement read in part. It did not directly address questions about O’Keefe’s employment status. “There are 65+ employees at Project Veritas dedicated to continuing the mission to expose corruption, dishonesty, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions,” the statement read. “To our supporters: We hear you, we care about you, and we will never give up.”

O’Keefe is his organization’s guiding ideological force and onscreen face, but his status as its day-to-day manager has become uncertain amid reports of internal turmoil, lawsuits from former employees, leaks about its internal workings, and a federal investigation into its conduct in purchasing a diary stolen from Ashley Biden, the president’s daughter. Strack’s internal message to employees made reference to what he called “a distracting time” and said that a board meeting had been held to discuss “the health of the organization” and that while “we have not come up with final solutions yet we have made a few immediate decisions.” The message said two top Project Veritas executives, including the nonprofit’s chief financial officer, had been “reinstated.” Multiple sources said that the pair had recently been fired by O’Keefe.

A meeting of the Project Veritas board is scheduled for Friday, when O’Keefe’s potential removal is set to be discussed, according to one source familiar with the matter.

[vita3]

Paid leave not too bad

Believe they have over 60 employees. Let’s hope they keep on keeping it on

[GlennwaldSnowdenAssanged]

This could actually be good for O'Keefe. Unlike Alex Jones, it seems that O'Keefe answers to a higher authority so when SHTF he is just an employee acting under authority of the board and his superiors.

[GlennwaldSnowdenAssanged]

The Glenn Greenwald of Project Veritas. He makes them what they are and then the censor and silence him. Start another company and they do it again. My guess is James O'Keefe has plenty of $$ and would just fade away and retire instead of keep on keeping on.

[nobody's_hero]

The Glenn Greenwald of Project Veritas. He makes them what they are and then the censor and silence him. Start another company and they do it again. My guess is James O'Keefe has plenty of $$ and would just fade away and retire instead of keep on keeping on.

I wonder if this isn't more likely.

Speaking of Glenn Greenwald, wouldn't that be a great pair if those two teamed up? I know hidden-cameras aren't really Glenn's style but a duo like that with a passion for getting the truth out would be stellar.

That or they were threatened with lawsuits from Pfizer. Liberals are really good at using lawsuits to shut people up.

"health of the organization" excuse is bull***t because stories like the Pfizer one blew the lid off. When youtube starts taking down your videos you know you're doing something right.

PV youtube videos getting about one comment every 30-60 seconds with people outraged by this decision, as I type this.

[Anti Federalist]

That or they were threatened with lawsuits from Pfizer. Liberals are really good at using lawsuits to shut people up.

Winner winner chicken dinner.

[TheTexan]

$#@! with Pfizer and Pfizer will $#@! you back

[GlennwaldSnowdenAssanged]

I wonder if this isn't more likely.

Speaking of Glenn Greenwald, wouldn't that be a great pair if those two teamed up? I know hidden-cameras aren't really Glenn's style but a duo like that with a passion for getting the truth out would be stellar.

That or they were threatened with lawsuits from Pfizer. Liberals are really good at using lawsuits to shut people up.

"health of the organization" excuse is bull***t because stories like the Pfizer one blew the lid off. When youtube starts taking down your videos you know you're doing something right.

PV youtube videos getting about one comment every 30-60 seconds with people outraged by this decision, as I type this.

The silver lining for O'Keefe is he was not or is not in charge. He answers to a higher authority one that can force him to take leave.

[nobody's_hero]

[GlennwaldSnowdenAssanged]

I am guessing that back in the day James O'Keefe started his endeavor and then wanted it to be bigger and better but didn't have the financial wherewithal to do it without investors or partners. Once you have a financier, you are beholden to them.

[Philhelm]

$#@! with Pfizer and Pfizer will $#@! you back

P$#@!

You missed a trick.

[Occam's Banana]

James O'Keefe Accused of 'Erratic Behavior' by 16 Project Veritas Employees
'James has become a power drunk tyrant,' said one unnamed employee in a letter submitted to the organization's board
https://timcast.com/news/james-okeef...tas-employees/
Hannah Claire Brimelow (09 February 2023)

A group of 16 Project Veritas employees asked the non-profit’s board of directors to remove founder James O’Keefe in a letter exposing internal tensions within the organization.

The group claims O’Keefe’s management style and business operations are “antithetical” to the organization’s core values.

Timcast obtained a copy of the letter sent to the Project Veritas Board of Directors, Project Veritas Action and the organization’s executive management. The 11-page document included anonymous reports from witnesses and second-hand accounts of a “pattern of behavior” that “severely limit[s]” the staff’s “ability to execute the PV mission.”

Memo to PV Board Feb 6 2023 (1) by Christopher Karr on Scribd

In a preface to the letter, the signatories note about one-third of Project Veritas were involved in the effort to oust O’Keefe and even fewer had signed the letter.

“Some signatories have not been the subject of abuse nor witnessed any abuse but found the corroborated behavior troubling and were willing to sign,” the preface added.

The group’s letter was ostensibly instigated after O’Keefe allegedly publicly berated Chief Strategy Officer Barry Hinckley and Chief Financial Officer Tom O’Hara on Jan. 31. Hinckley and O’Hara were terminated on Jan. 2.

In a text included in the letter, Hinckley told staff members he “stood up to a bully and was fired.”

“James has become a power drunk tyrant and he is exactly who he pontificates on who we should be exposing,” according to one of the group’s 20 collected statements. None of the statements are attributed to specific, named people. The authors noted their evidence was compiled in the two days before the letter was submitted.

“We have all been on the receiving end of unnecessary, seemingly intentionally humiliating, and outright cruel behavior,” said another. “I believe James knows he’s in over his head, he’s scared, overworked, manic on stress and drunk on the success of the last two weeks. His flaws aside, his aims are genuine and he is a true leader. He just needs a push back in the right direction. I hope this potential board action is that push.”

O’Keefe has been accused of calling an employee who is no longer with Project Veritas a “pussy” and labeling another “traitorous.” Some of the statements accuse O’Keefe of “diva” behavior and egomania.

“At Democracy Partners trial, in public, I was yelled at in front of jurors because he was hungry and then he took the 8-month pregnant woman’s sandwich,” one anonymous employee said.

“Everyone is operating in fear because James is erratic,” said another. “One doesn’t know whether one will meet his needs and expectations, since the target is constantly moving, and priorities are shifting.”

News that O’Keefe had been placed on paid leave by the board broke on Feb. 8.

“Like all newsrooms at this stage, the Project Veritas Board of Directors and Management are constantly evaluating what the best path forward is for the organization,” executive director Daniel Strack said in a statement, per New York Magazine. “There are 65+ employees at Project Veritas dedicated to continuing the mission to expose corruption, dishonesty, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions.”

Strack sent an internal message saying its Chief Executive Officer and Chairman was taking “a few weeks of well-deserved PTO.”

The letter’s signatories have demanded that the board stop O’Keefe’s “bullying,” “micromanaging,” and “undermining.” They have also asked that “controls are implemented to execute on the above without fear of personal reprisal.”

“We are writing this because we value the organization that James has built and what we’ve become. No one else is doing the work of PV, and we love it,” the signatories wrote. “If we DON’T make these changes, we will fail to attract and retain the best people. … Continue down the path we are on, and you will have an Army of ‘yes men’ who wouldn’t dare pen this letter.”

Members of five departments signed the letter including Michael Villani, Eric Spracklen, Bethany Ronaldo, Gillian Pietrowski, Jonathan Bailey, Joanne Sumner, and journalists Bobby Harr (Lithium), Arden Young, and Preston Scagnelli.

Project Veritas will reportedly decide at a meeting on Feb. 10 if it will permanently remove its founder.

In response to O’Keefe’s removal, a number of pundits and media figures, including Candace Owens, Paul Joseph Watson, and Jack Posobiec [and Darren J. Beattie], have voiced their support for the non-profit’s founder.

O’Keefe founded Project Veritas in June of 2010. The organization has published investigations and undercover reports on social media platforms, presidential campaigns, and news networks.

[vita3]

Wouldn't be a bad thing to have a few more project veritas type orgs

Might need more numbers to take on mighty pharm world

[GlennwaldSnowdenAssanged]

Fuch that. I wouldn't go back. Employees going to allow you back so long as....I would get ahead of it and make the announcement prior to their decision.

[nobody's_hero]

I'm wondering how many of the PV's newer staff thought it was gonna be some sort of twitter-esque Latte-sipping Yoga-break-taking type of job. (These younger folks, I tell ya what)

Anyway, I'd like to hear O'Keefe make a statement personally. I guess he is waiting to see what the board's decision will be tomorrow.

As one youtube commenter put it:

"I can see O'Keefe getting some guys to go back into Project Veritas undercover and finding out who is on the take."

—Which would be hilarious.

[ClaytonB]

$#@! with Pfizer and Pfizer will $#@! you back

BRING IT ON



Option #1: O'Keefe has real Kompromat in his background that we don't know about and he played the role he was told to play. When the time was right, the plan was to "publicly yet privately" fire him in order to crater Project Veritas and chill anyone else with the same kind of ideas.

Option #2 (seems more likely to me): O'Keefe made himself a target and so they're dropping the bomb on him using the well-known Swamp playbook.

I don't know which it is, but I do know that, whichever it is, DC is the Swamp and they are the real problem!

[Anti Globalist]

Next we'll hear that O'Keefe was found dead with a self-inflicted gun shot wound to the head.

[Brian4Liberty]

It sounds like O’Keefe gave up too much power. A big mistake. And now a minority of disgruntled employees have staged a coup.

[AngryCanadian]

It sounds like O’Keefe gave up too much power. A big mistake. And now a minority of disgruntled employees have staged a coup.

I wonder how much likely Pfizer played role here?

Still their stocks had being dropping recently this month.

[Swordsmyth]

Hostile Takeover of Project Veritas Seeking to Remove James O’Keefe – DeSantis Aligned Operatives Spearheading Effort for Removal

[AngryCanadian]

Hostile Takeover of Project Veritas Seeking to Remove James O’Keefe – DeSantis Aligned Operatives Spearheading Effort for Removal

Why would Ron DeSantis wanted to remove James O’Keefe when his state refused the vaccination passports?

[AngryCanadian]

It does seem like a coup agaisnt James O’Keefe from the deep state.

[Occam's Banana]

'Cease and Desist' letter sent to Project Veritas Board by major donors as James O'Keefe's future with company is in peril
"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."
https://thepostmillennial.com/breaki...ny-is-in-peril
Libby Emmons (10 February 2023)

A Cease and Desist letter went out to the Project Veritas Board of Directors on Thursday, as that body is set to meet to determine the future of founder James O'Keefe with the company.

The letter, shared by Twitter account Swig, was sent by law firm Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders, and states that the "firm represents a large group of significant donors to Project Veritas."

These donors, it goes on to say "have grave concerns about the Board of Directors' reported 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."

"The big wig donors to Project Veritas are not taking the board actions against James O’Keefe lying down," says a source, according to Swig. "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!"

"By threatening or taking these actions," the letter goes on to say, "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."

They further ask that no money be spent in the meantime.

In conclusion, they state that the Board must "cease and desist" from any actions to remove O'Keefe from the company, and state that the letter also represents "a request to preserve all tangible evidence, whether held by the Board or by its members, personally, including all documents related to the subject matter of this letter."

After it was revealed that O'Keefe's tenure with the company was in jeopardy, "James is Project Veritas" began trending on Twitter, with many in media simply aghast that the board would seek to remove the man from the company he founded, launched, and made a household name.

Allegations leveled at O'Keefe were revealed earlier this week by New York Magazine and Daily Beast, with the letter full of staff complaints later released by Timcast [see this post - OB].

That letter lists staff complaints that essentially boil down to O'Keefe being a rather difficult boss, something of a "tyrant," and once having eaten a pregnant woman's sandwich. The letter from staff also states that the 16 undersigned employees who submitted the letter have not all seen the kind of abuse mentioned.

The rumor mill began to swirl after the release of the letter as factions began to form, with some saying that further, more damning allegations could be in the offing, primarily concerning financial dealings.

---

https://twitter.com/OldRowSwig/statu...93172639887361


[images hidden to save space]

 

[vita3]

Most registered lobbyists out of all industries is pharma/healthcare

[ClaytonB]

Why would Ron DeSantis wanted to remove James O’Keefe when his state refused the vaccination passports?

I don't know. What I do know is that the Swamp plays extremely dirty, and throwing a bone to the masses in order to make their preferred candidate seem like "the real deal" is just standard Swamp playbook. Not saying that's the case with DeSantis, but I've seen nothing yet to prove otherwise. I'm glad somebody finally stood up to the Big Pharma syndicate, but that doesn't automatically give DeSantis a pass. He has to prove himself, he has to show that he will take down the known worst-of-the-worst, the inside-insiders, the dark string-pullers whose names are never in the news, as well as the known evil puppets in the Swamp. My expectations that he will actually do that are somewhere around 1%...

[devil21]

Fwiw, while I thought PV's content was decent (for exposing low level drone employees generally, in a Cambridge Analytica style model, very after-the-fact so it doesn't change the outcome, only manages the reaction....PV never preempts anything), I always wondered about their sincerity, since one video series they released early on in their rise to prominence held obvious occult symbolism/hand signs/etc. The model is and always has been to control both sides. Control both wings of the bird.

I won't pay any serious attention to what they do now leading up to an election. Exit stage right James.

[Swordsmyth]

Why would Ron DeSantis wanted to remove James O’Keefe when his state refused the vaccination passports?

It's not necessarily DeSantis behind it.
But he's buddies with the people who are.
Much of what he does in FL is meant to set him up to bait and switch people in order to get rid of Trump.

[GlennwaldSnowdenAssanged]

So what was the boards decision? I thought they were going to decide Friday.

[A Son of Liberty]

So what was the boards decision? I thought they were going to decide Friday.

FWIW, I think the fact that the major donors to PV filed a "cease and desist" has probably pumped the brakes on PV's board's "decision" re: O'Keefe's position. Shockingly.

It's amazing to me that this sh!t isn't as transparent as glass. We're living in Clown World, and it's a snowball rolling down a mountain, heading for a cliff.

[GlennwaldSnowdenAssanged]

FWIW, I think the fact that the major donors to PV filed a "cease and desist" has probably pumped the brakes on PV's board's "decision" re: O'Keefe's position. Shockingly.

It's amazing to me that this sh!t isn't as transparent as glass. We're living in Clown World, and it's a snowball rolling down a mountain, heading for a cliff.

So if you were James O'Keefe, what would you do?
Should he just show up Monday and go back to work?