James O’Keefe, Accused of Leading Like a “Power-Drunk Tyrant,” Ousted From Project Veritas

James O’Keefe, the founder of Project Veritas, a right-wing media nonprofit known for its theatrical undercover “sting” operations, has left the group amid accusations of “financial malfeasance” and abusive leadership. “Currently, I have no job at Project Veritas,” he announced in recorded remarks to employees Monday.

O’Keefe, who was put on paid leave about two weeks ago by the organization’s board of directors, did hint at launching a rival organization—possibly with help from his former employees. “Our mission continues on. I’m not done,” said the group’s now ex-chief executive. “The mission will perhaps take on a new name, and it may be no longer called Veritas, Project Veritas. I will need a bunch of people around me, and I’ll make sure you know how to find me.”

He also implied that his departure might be linked to the group’s recent “sting” targeting Pfizer—which he claimed had been mutating COVID-19 for profit—saying it was “the only thing” that had changed leading up to the “unusual emergency” at the outlet.

However, the group’s board of directors—and a purported one third of its employees—has painted a markedly different picture. Most notably, the board has accused O’Keefe of spending “an excessive amount of donor funds,” including “$14,000 on a charter flight to meet someone to fix his boat under the guise of meeting with a donor”; $60,000 on “dance events”; and more than $150,000 on private cars in an 18-month span. “We could not allow for our donors to send us money and have it misappropriated in such a way,” the board wrote in a Monday statement, noting that O’Keefe had skipped a recent Friday meeting “to discuss the financial malfeasance that was discovered, which requires us to act in order to remain in compliance with the law.” 

Still, the board has insisted it “did not fire [O’Keefe], nor do we want him to resign,” and it appears willing to make amends. “We would like to continue conversations with James to resolve internal matters rather than litigate them publicly,” the statement read. (O’Keefe, for his part, tweeted Monday, “I have not resigned from the company…I was stripped of my position as CEO and Chairman.” Vanity Fair has reached out to O’Keefe for comment.)

Still, the board has insisted it “did not fire [O’Keefe], nor do we want him to resign,” and it appears willing to make amends. “We would like to continue conversations with James to resolve internal matters rather than litigate them publicly,” the statement read. (O’Keefe, for his part, tweeted Monday, “I have not resigned from the company…I was stripped of my position as CEO and Chairman.” Vanity Fair has reached out to O’Keefe for comment.)

O’Keefe’s sudden departure comes weeks after 16 Project Veritas employees signed a memo to the board accusing O’Keefe of managing like a “power-drunk tyrant” and claiming that he bullied and demeaned his staff. One employee even alleged that he once took a pregnant woman’s lunch, according to the Daily Beast. (O’Keefe did not respond to the Daily Beast’s requests for comment.)

Over the past two years, the group has suffered a spate of legal problems stemming from its procurement of a stolen diary kept by first daughter Ashley Biden. While the group has never published the contents of the diary and has faced no charges in the case, O’Keefe’s home was searched by FBI agents as part of a 2021 investigation into its theft. The diary, which was stolen by two Florida residents who have pleaded guilty to the crime, was ultimately turned over to law enforcement. Meanwhile, in a separate case last year, a federal jury awarded Democracy Partners $120,000 after it ruled that Project Veritas had violated wiretapping laws in undercover videos targeting the Democratic consulting firm.