James O'Keefe — the infamous exposer of liberal wrongs who founded Project Veritas in 2010 and developed the organization into a fearsome specter to mainstream media, progressive organizations, and Democrat politicians — announced on Monday that he had been "removed" by his organization's board and has "no position here based upon what the board has done."
BREAKING: James O'Keefe out at Project Veritas: "I've been stripped of my authority as CEO and removed from the Board of Directors..." pic.twitter.com/pnVba2V9Ed
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 20, 2023
In somewhat the same manner as many of his legendary narrative-shattering exposés, O'Keefe read resignation remarks on-camera as he explained his side of the fraught situation to some Project Veritas staff in the organization's offices. That video (embedded in full below) was subsequently posted and picked up by others online.
"Journalism is reporting things powerful people want kept hidden for the wrong reasons — moral wrongs, bad behaviors — as journalists, we're custodians of the public's conscience," O'Keefe said reading from prepared remarks in which he explained he "was stripped of all decision-making last week" and subsequently "stripped" of his "authority as CEO and removed from the board of directors."
So, O'Keefe explained, "on President’s Day, I’m packing up my personal belongings here" as he recounted highs and lows from his career since he founded Project Veritas. From the ACORN exposé to being raided and arrested, to Planned Parenthood and most recently Pfizer, O'Keefe recalled the organization's storied past before responding to some of what's been said by the board of Project Veritas — both in private and in public.
"Leadership has a price and results often come at a human cost," O'Keefe noted. "Many people want the fruits of leadership such as its power, results, Twitter followings, secondary effects — but the price of the responsibilities, burdens trials, hardships, difficult decisions, or just sheer suffering, I don't think people want that."
"All through the years, things fundamentally continued on an upward trajectory for this place," O'Keefe said of the organization he founded and led for more than a dozen years. But then something changed in the last three weeks. "The only thing that has changed is we broke the biggest story in our organization's history," he said of the recent Project Veritas exposé of Pfizer. With more than 50 million views, "our video became a global phenomenon," O'Keefe noted.
"And then suddenly, an unusual emergency happened just a few days after that," O'Keefe said before outlining his timeline of how things unfolded.
James O'Keefe explains the events that led to the board at Project Veritas forcing him out: He fired a member of the board who disagreed with him about fundraising and that they tried to fire him while he was on a plane. pic.twitter.com/gtEcekqS4E
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 20, 2023
There's even more details in the full video starting around the 15:00 mark. Screenshots of alleged text messages, emails flying between Project Veritas board members, and more information paint a picture of a different timeline of events than the board relayed in its statements.
James O'Keefe shows a text message from a Veritas board member to one of their journalists bragging about getting a raise if O'Keefe is forced out. pic.twitter.com/kI38NwtF97
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 20, 2023
Among the developments recounted by O'Keefe that came in a series of board meetings and in communications between board members is the allegation that he once "stole a pregnant woman's sandwich in federal court," and used company funds for a wedding, though O'Keefe is unmarried.
James O'Keefe says that a Project Veritas officer lied to the board about him using corporate funds for a "wedding" despite the fact that he's never been married and that it was used for the company Christmas party. pic.twitter.com/ujiJvDMC0M
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 20, 2023
As Julio reported last week, the Project Veritas board issued a statement about O'Keefe that portrayed him as simply taking well-earned time off, even though O'Keefe said the board had already acted to strip or suspend his authority within the organization without noting such developments in its public statements.
"I'm not sure what my job here is," O'Keefe said while reading minutes from board meetings in which O'Keefe was placed on leave, denied access to donor information, and stripped of power within the organization.
At more than 45 minutes long, O'Keefe's remarks provide more information from his point of view about what's been going on, though he admits "none of this makes any sense, and why is it all happening right now? Those are the questions I have," O'Keefe said. "I don't have answers."
Calling the Project Veritas board's actions an "emotional circus," O'Keefe questioned again "why there was a concerted effort to remove me the week of the biggest story we've ever had" and called the situation "extremely difficult."
"My dear team, I do love many of you," O'Keefe continued. "I never said those words, but I'll say it now. I still believe we have a long and bright future together somehow, someway," he added. "You are amazing people."
"The only way to defeat us is if they take our spirit," O'Keefe declared. "And from the looks of things, many of us remain completely undefeated and unbroken."
"So, our mission continues on," O'Keefe said, getting a bit emotional. "I'm not done. The mission will perhaps take on a new name, and it may be no longer called Project Veritas," he explained. "I'll need a bunch of people around me, and I'll make sure you know how to find me."