Project Veritas on Thursday served James O’Keefe with a lawsuit one day after announcing it was suspending all operations.
O’Keefe said there was between $6 million and $8 million cash on hand. “They’ve apparently spent all of it, raising almost no money at all since they ousted me.”
‘They’re trying to shut me down,’ O’Keefe said.
Details of the lawsuit are unclear.
WATCH:
WATCH: Project Veritas attempts to serve James O’Keefe a lawsuit one day after announcing it was suspending all operations indefinitely. pic.twitter.com/F9LmYQ6Iny
— James O’Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) September 22, 2023
Here’s the backstory:
Project Veritas suspended all operations this week and laid off its remaining journalists just months after the organization’s board ousted its founder James O’Keefe. Since then the organization has been under siege by staff revolts, board chaos, poor fundraising, and ongoing prosecutions and litigation.
James O’Keefe left as Project Veritas’ CEO in February after a dispute with the organization’s board when O’Keefe tried to fire the Chief Financial Officer Tom O’Hara. This then set off a staff conflict where 18 Veritas staffers demanded James resign. Once James was pushed out, then the staffers loyal to O’Keefe left.
O’Keefe had been complaining about his signature attached to checks without his authorization, and for being unable to see where the money was going. This was in the midst of ongoing financial fraud at Project Veritas, that apparently continued even after O’Keefe was ousted.
Veritas claims O’Keefe was officially removed from the board on April 24 and formally fired May 15.
Project Veritas also sued James O’Keefe in May alleging breach of contract and other claims just months after he was removed from the company’s board.
“Being known as the founder of an organization does not entitle that person to run amok and put his own interests ahead of that organization,” the suit said in the 70-page complaint.
The lawsuit alleges O’Keefe misused funds and mistreated employees. Project Veritas asked the federal court to issue a preliminary and permanent injunction enjoining O’Keefe and OMG (through O’Keefe and/or based on information from O’Keefe) from:
- Soliciting or contacting Plaintiff’s donors, employees or contractors;
- Disparaging Plaintiffs;
- Obtaining, using or disclosing Plaintiffs’ Confidential Information; and
- Keeping and failing to return Plaintiffs’ property
Project Veritas is also demanding a jury trial in its suit against O’Keefe.
The board members who had led the coup against O’Keefe resigned and jumped ship this summer after leading the organization into financial ruin, Matthew Tyrmand, John Garvey, George Skakel. Reportedly, the board ceased all fundraising and bled the organization dry until resigning. O’Keefe had alleged, without evidence, that the ‘board had been bought out by Pfizer.’ This allegation is one of the key defamation claims of Project Veritas’ claims against O’Keefe. Yet Tyrmand, as originally reported by the Manhattan, is now known to be tied to healthcare companies doing business in China, including selling biomedical tracking products.
Meanwhile, O’Keefe and Project Veritas are also being investigated by the Westchester County DA in New York, as well as the ongoing Ashley Biden Diary prosecution in the Southern District of New York where the federal government is prosecuting Project Veritas journalists, including O’Keefe, for receiving Ashley Biden’s abandoned diary where she discusses taking inappropriate showers with President Joe Biden as a child.
The mainstream media denied the authenticity of the diary for years until last month, when Project Veritas released proof that Ashley Biden had confirmed its authenticity.
A local Connecticut news outlet also claims earlier this month that the Westchester DA is also investigating possible financial crimes at Project Veritas involving ‘tens of thousands’ in ongoing ‘check washing’ fraud.
The laid off anti-O’Keefe Project Veritas staffers have started their own organization and are releasing recordings of board calls and inside information to further hurt Project Veritas.
