Project Veritas is a group affiliated with James O'Keefe, a right-wing provocateur known for a series of deceptive videos attacking targets like Planned Parenthood and ACORN, a community organizing group.[1] As of 2017, Porject Veritas's main targets were the mainstream news media and left-leaning groups via "undercover 'stings' that involve using false cover stories and covert video recordings meant to expose what the group says is media bias."[2]

In fall 2014, the group "launched a political offshoot with its sights set on high-profile campaigns and organizations" called Project Veritas Action, according to Mother Jones.[3]

In its tax filings, Project Veritas states that its mission "is to train, educate, and inform others to investigate and expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions in order to achieve a more ethical and transparent society."[4] Some of the primary methods used by O'Keefe and other Project Veritas operatives, however, use disguises and deceptive editing.

News and Controversies

"Diamond Dog" Operation to Suppress Mail-In and Absentee Voting

In the lead up to the 2020 presidential election, O'Keefe's new "Diamond Dog" operation has focused on discrediting and suppressing mail-in and absentee voting, with the ultimate goal of reelecting Donald Trump, according to reporting by The New Republic.[5] The article states the operation's scope spans the United States, with particular focus on voter registration efforts in California and Texas. These sting operations are meant to expose widespread mail-in ballot corruption and fraud.

In a 2019 pitch deck obtained by TNR to top Project Veritas donor Robert Shillman, potential Diamond Dog stings include exposing illegal voting by undocumented immigrants, ballot tampering at nursing homes, and the sale of information on absentee ballots and voter profiles on the "Dark Web." One of Diamond Dog's top priorities is infiltrating canvassing groups that gather absentee and mail-in ballots "from low-income, elderly, and minority groups," which Project Veritas terms "ballot harvesting."[5]

TNR reports that in Texas, Project Veritas operatives, including Facebook staffer Cassandra Spencer, work closely with GOP operative Andy Harris, chief of staff to Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX). Harris's "Direct Action Texas" group has connected Project Veritas with staffers in Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office, where they have helped strategize on the state's “election integrity initiative," purportedly created to fight voter fraud but with the ultimate goal of purging the state's voter registration rolls. Leading a state with one of the strictest voter ID requirements, recently, Paxton advocated for felony charges for anyone requesting a mail-in ballot due to fears of COVID-19 infection, according to TNR.[5]

The Diamond Dog operation has also been a valuable fundraising source for Project Veritas. TNR reports that internal documents show its fundraising total increased by $4.58 million from 2018 to 2019, to a total of $13.44 million.[5]

Project Veritas 2018 Year in Review

In Project Veritas's "2018 Year In Review" document, the group detailed its major investigations throughout the year, including the "shadow-banning" of conservatives on Twitter, secret recordings of New Jersey teachers' unions, and its "Deep State: Unmasked" series, aimed at exposing "resisters in the federal government."[6] The group states its main priorities include exposing media bias, government waste, campaign corruption and voter fraud.

At the beginning of 2018, Project Veritas launched an investigation into Twitter to expose its "biases and hidden political agenda." Through secret audio recordings, the group alleges a Twitter staffer threatened to turn over Donald Trump's deleted messages to DOJ, and that Twitter was censoring political content from Trump supporters, leading to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) later citing this information in a congressional hearing. Project Veritas also claimed credit for investigations in New Jersey that lead to the introduction of multiple state bills after secret recordings of teacher union meetings went public.[6]

In its "Deep State Investigation," Project Veritas claimed to expose the "radical socialist political activity" of federal officials. The group claims its recordings of staff at DOJ, HHS, GAO, State Department and the IRS expose a conspiracy of federal workers using their positions to "resist or slow the Trump administration's policies." Its recordings led to official statements by four federal agencies and it claims two individuals were fired due to its investigation.[6]

The group also lists its "legal victories' from throughout the year, which include lawsuit from a Kansas teachers' union president, the Michigan chapter of the American Federation for Teachers, the group Democracy Partners, and various individuals cited in Project Veritas videos. Several of the cases were dismissed and several were still pending at the point of publication.[6]

According to the document, its 2017 annual budget was $7,746,886.84.[6]

Project Veritas Exposed

After Project Veritas attempted to "infiltrate" Democracy Partners, a group called The Undercut and American Family Voices launched ProjectVeritas.Exposed. The mission of the site is to serve as a "research resource for individual and organizational targets of Project Veritas, lawyers representing the victims, and the media." The site keeps a running list of the attempted "stings" Project Veritas is caught in.[7]

Failed Washington Post "Sting"

A woman tried to tell the Washington Post about a relationship she and then-senate candidate Roy Moore had in 1992 which, according to her story, led to an abortion when she was 15. The woman "repeatedly pressed Post reporters to give their opinions on the effects that her claims could have on Moore’s candidacy if she went public." Reporters discovered that the woman went to the Project Veritas office, suggesting that the story was manufactured by Project Veritas. O'Keefe refused to answer questions about the encounter[2]

Project Veritas Served with Restraining Order, Latest 'Sting' Blocked

Michigan Circuit Court Judge Brian R. Sullivan granted the American Federation of Teachers-Michigan's request to bar James O'Keefe's Project Veritas from releasing information gained through a possibly illegal sting over the summer of 2017.[8]

According to the Intercept, "political operative Marisa Jorge posed as a University of Michigan student interested in becoming a teacher and applied for a summer internship with the teachers union. (Verney, the Project Veritas executive director, said he knows Marisa Jorge, but wouldn’t confirm or deny whether she works for the organization.) Jorge was hired as an intern in May, and over the course of three months, she gathered information that exceeded the scope of her duties, the lawsuit alleges. For example, she showed a particular interest in employees who were disciplined for inappropriate sexual interactions with students. On more than one occasion, the lawsuit alleges, Jorge was found sitting alone in other employees’ offices, accessing information she had no right to."[8]

"The lawsuit accuses Jorge of fraudulent misrepresentation, trespass, eavesdropping, and theft. It also accuses Jorge and Project Veritas of conspiring to infiltrate AFT Michigan, gather and copy proprietary information, and disseminate that information to paint the union group in a false light. By granting a temporary restraining order, Sullivan has indicated his belief that the allegations are more than likely to be true and that the benefit of barring the defendants from disseminating the information Jorge collected outweighs the harm of suppressing her speech. The injunction will stay in place for at least 14 days, and the case is set for a hearing on October 5."[8]

O'Keefe had no comment when The Intercept asked him about the restraining order.[8]

James O'Keefe, Who Pled Guilty in Federal Case, Threatens WI AG Schimel into Flip Flop on Project Veritas Video

James O'Keefe

In October 2016 James O'Keefe, a widely discredited video attack dog published video through his group Project Veritas showing Democratic political operatives in bars discussing the use inappropriate and potentially illegal campaign tactics with unidentified persons posing as funders. The video does not contain evidence that any of the campaign activities discussed were actually undertaken. In 2017, O'Keefe was sued for breaking federal and local wiretap law in the incident.[9]

After a review of the facts in the case, Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General Roy Korte wrote in a memo: "Based on all the available facts I do not believe there is any basis to conclude that the videos demonstrate or suggest violations of Wisconsin criminal laws... The conversations remain best described as vague and theoretical in many respects... There are no clear or direct statements indicating that voter fraud (bringing in out of state voters) was planned or had occurred."[10]

On April 27, 2017 O'Keefe released a four-minute video attacking Attorney General Schimel personally for failing to prosecute and threatening to target the attorney general himself. "We should investigate you and you should lose your job."[11] The O'Keefe tirade was enough to push Schimel to change his stance, writes Bruce Murphy of Urban Milwaukee. "He went on conservative talker Mark Belling’s show and announced that the investigation his office had previously announced was over was actually still continuing. Schimel added that 'I appreciate the work that groups like Project Veritas do to expose corruption and criminal conspiracies,' wrongly suggesting the group’s accusations had actually led to anyone being charged with a crime."[12]

Ironically, O'Keefe himself has been charged and prosecuted by federal officials. He and three others pled guilty in 2010 after they engaged in an effort to trespass and bug the offices of U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu that went awry.

"Magistrate Judge Daniel Knowles III sentenced Stan Dai, Joseph Basel and Robert Flanagan each to two years probation, a fine of $1,500 and 75 hours of community service during their first year of probation.James O'Keefe, as leader of the group and famous for posing as a pimp in ACORN office videos, received three years of probation, a fine of $1,500 and 100 hours of community service," reported the New Orleans paper at the time.[13]

Previously, O'Keefe paid $100,000 in 2013 to settle a lawsuit filed by Juan Carlos Vera, a former employee of ACORN. The lawsuit alleged that O'Keefe and his associate filmed Vera in the San Diego ACORN offices without his consent, a violation of California law, and portrayed him untruthfully.[14]

Botched Sting Attempt on Open Society Foundations

On March 16, 2016 James O'Keefe contacted the offices of Open Society Foundations -- a nonprofit that promotes democratic rights internationally -- under the name "Victor Kesh" and left a voicemail in which he expressed interest in collaborating for the promotion of "European values."[15] O'Keefe botched the sting attempt when he failed to hang up the phone, discussed the sting with someone else while still recording the voicemail, and revealed his identity to Open Society Foundations by accessing his target's Linkedin page while logged on to his own profile. O'Keefe admitted defeat several months after the sting attempt, stating in an interview with Breitbart that he was "forced to abandon an ambitious undercover investigation into billionaire left-wing financier George Soros."[16] He stated in the same interview that the objective of the sting had been to find out "what the Soros foundation is doing in Eastern Europe." According to The New Yorker magazine, recently-appointed Veritas board member Matthew Tyrmand "is a thirty-five-year-old Polish-American investor who is an informal adviser to Poland’s right-wing nationalist government."[15]

Operative Refuses Plan to "Dupe" Protesters with "Kill Cops" Script (2015)

In March 2015, former Director of Operations of Project Veritas Rich Valdes told Media Matters that he had been fired over his unwillingness to "strong-arm" an undercover operative into baiting protesters at a rally against police brutality. According to Media Matters, which also reviewed copies of emails related to the incident, Valdes said:

"O'Keefe wanted him to send the other activist, whom Valdes describes as a 'Muslim operative,' to a January National Action Network event related to the case of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man who died after being put in a chokehold by a New York police officer in July 2014.[17]

"'In this particular situation, James came to my desk and asked me to send this particular operative into the field,' Valdes recalls about the incident, which he says took place in the organization's Mamaroneck, N.Y., offices. 'And he was really anxious and he said, 'do whatever it takes, do whatever it takes, tell him to say whatever he's got to say, get me the content.' Content is king.'"[17]

According to Valdes, the operative, who was Muslim, was hesitant about doing the project, worried about its legality and about its intellectual honesty.

"This particular situation, he made the case that in the past when we were out there, we were just exposing stuff that was already going on, he felt the difference with this ... he felt that what we were trying to achieve, or what James was asking him to do, was to kind of dupe people into saying something they would not ordinarily say and he took exception to that, and of course I respected that."[17]

Despite being told by O'Keefe to press the operative again, Valdes decided not to, and was then called into O'Keefe's office and dismissed from Project Veritas. Valdes also said that he had not received his final paycheck. His lawyer said that he was considering a lawsuit over wrongful termination.[17]

Talking Points Memo published the full text of the script the operative was to use, based on emails obtained from Valdes' attorney:

"As a minority and a Muslim, I know what it's like when the police treat me unfairly. They have even searched my little daughter's body. Can you believe that? Do you know what it's like to have your rights violated because of the color of your skin or because of your name? -PAUSE-

"Sometimes, I wish I could just kill some of these cops. Don't you just wish we could have one of the cops right here in the middle of our group? -PAUSE-

"What would you do if we could get Officer Pantoleo (who killed Eric Garner) right here in this crowd? What would you do to him?"[18]

A spokesman for Project Veritas declined to comment on the situation to Talking Points Memo beyond confirming Valdes' former employment,[18] but the same spokesman had earlier told the New York Post -- which first reported the story -- that "Project Veritas would never do anything that we believe would incite violence against police officers. Anyone suggesting otherwise is clearly unfamiliar with our body of work."[19]

WI Senate President Drops Out of GOP Primary after Project Veritas Video (2014)

In April 2014, Project Veritas published a video it had secretly recorded in which Wisconsin State Senate President Mike Ellis (R-Neenah) appeared to discuss "setting up an illegal political action committee to attack his Democratic opponent" and "having his fundraiser, Judi Rhodes Engels, help run the supposedly independent group," as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel described the video. Ellis later told the Journal Sentinel that "he had never spoken to her about the matter" and that "he later discovered his plan wasn't legal and scrapped the idea." Engels likewise said they had never discussed the idea.[20] Ellis announced two days later that he was dropping out of his re-election race, after serving for almost 44 years in the state legislature. He had previously been known as a champion of campaign finance laws, and his decision to leave the race would "accelerate a trend in the Senate toward sharper party clashes, observers agreed," according to the Journal Sentinel.[21]

In an interview after the video's release, Ellis speculated that Wisconsin Club for Growth (WiCFG) might have been behind the video.[22] The Center for Media and Democracy reported in January 2015 on tax documents showing that WiCFG Director Eric O'Keefe, a longtime supporter of Scott Walker and a group at the center of the John Doe criminal investigation of potentially illegal campaign finance coordination, had given $50,000 to Project Veritas in 2013. When called by CMD and asked about the $50,000 donation, Eric O'Keefe said "I didn't give that in 2013," then ended the call.[23]

Learn more about the John Doe investigation here, and keep up with CMD's latest reporting on the investigation with the Reporter's Guide.

Failed Attempts to Entrap Democrats and Nonprofits During 2014 Midterm Campaigns

Project Veritas operatives reportedly tried to get staffers for several Democratic campaigns on tape supporting voter fraud in 2014. Mother Jones reported in October that O'Keefe and two others "tried to bait Democratic field staffers into approving voter fraud involving Colorado's universal vote-by-mail program, according to three Democratic staffers who interacted with O'Keefe or his colleagues." Two operatives asked questions about filling out others' mail-in ballots, which staffers explained would be voter fraud, telling them not to do it. Wearing makeup and a costume and presenting himself as a "civics professor," O'Keefe tried to enter the office of a progressive nonprofit, "New Era Colorado," while carrying campaign literature for the Democratic candidate. New Era staff refused to let them inside, and the group's executive director told Mother Jones he thought "O'Keefe and his collaborators 'were trying to establish evidence we were working together.'"[24]

$100,000 Paid to Settle Lawsuit over Secret Recording (2013)

In March 2013, O'Keefe agreed to pay $100,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by Juan Carlos Vera, a former employee of ACORN. The lawsuit alleged that O'Keefe and his associate filmed Vera in the San Diego ACORN offices without his consent, a violation of California law, and portrayed him untruthfully. The video was later heavily edited and published on conservative mega-blog Breitbart.com, making it appear that Vera had conspired with O'Keefe to smuggle underage girls across the Mexican border, when in fact Vera had immediately contacted the police after O'Keefe left his office.[25]

"Probe" of Senator's Office Nets Arrests and Probation for Project Veritas (2010)

In January 2010, O'Keefe -- together with Stan Dai, Joseph Basel, and Robert Flanagan -- was arrested for attempting to enter U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu's (D-LA) office under false pretenses. The four were arrested under suspicion of plotting to tamper with Landrieu's phones, and initially were "charged with entering federal property under false pretenses with the intent of committing a felony."[26] O'Keefe, Flanagan, and Basel posed as a telephone repair crew and asked a staff member for access to the phone system, while Dai reportedly "was arrested with a listening device in a car blocks from the senator's offices," according to the New Orleans Times Picayune.[26] The four pled guilty "to entering real property belonging to the United States under false pretenses" and were sentenced in May, with O'Keefe receiving a fine of $1,500, 100 hours of community service, and three years' probation; and the other three receiving fines of $1,500, 75 hours each of community service, and two years' probation. According to the Times Picayune, "The judge repeatedly told the defendants that, as journalists, they needed to learn 'where to draw a line' in their investigative methods."[27]

"Disingenuous" Sting on ACORN (2009)

Project Veritas first entered the public eye in 2009 when its founder/president, James O'Keefe, "gained notice for secretly videotaping his exchanges with workers for the community organizing group ACORN who appeared to advise him how to avoid prosecution for a variety of unsavory activities like child prostitution," according to the New York Times. Aided by conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart, the group spread the impression that O'Keefe had dressed in an outlandish "pimp" costume, a detail "that was quickly embraced by the mainstream media and turned into a central part of the ACORN story," leading to ridicule of ACORN employees for their "apparent cluelessness," according to Media Matters.[28] Mother Jones referred to the ACORN sting and other such videos as "disingenuously edited hit jobs."[29]

Later investigations, including one by the California Attorney General, showed that the videos released by O'Keefe were misleading. From the AG's report:

"Evidence obtained by Brown tells a somewhat different story [than the edited videos originally released], however, as reflected in three videotapes made at ACORN locations in California. One ACORN worker in San Diego called the cops. Another ACORN worker in San Bernardino caught on to the scheme and played along with it, claiming among other things that she had murdered her abusive husband. Her two former husbands are alive and well, the Attorney General's report noted. At the beginning and end of the Internet videos, O'Keefe was dressed as a 1970s Superfly pimp, but in his actual taped sessions with ACORN workers, he was dressed in a shirt and tie, presented himself as a law student, and said he planned to use the prostitution proceeds to run for Congress. He never claimed he was a pimp."

The Attorney General found that while some members of ACORN had engaged in "inappropriate behavior," the organization had "committed no violation of criminal laws."[30]

A 2009 investigation by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee found "no evidence of fraudulent voting or of violations of federal financing rules by the group in the past five years," and also that Project Veritas "might have broken privacy laws in California and Maryland [...] The two states “appear to ban” the recording of face-to-face conversations without the consent of all participants, the report said."[31]

Nonetheless, Congress voted to pull funding from ACORN, and the group ceased operating in the United States.

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) contributed to pressure against ACORN, as the Center for Media and Democracy found.[32] Despite ACORN's ceasing to operate, as Bloomberg Businessweek reported in late 2014, "Every year since 2009, Congress has added language to must-pass spending bills that prohibits funds from ACORN."[33]

Former Director of Operations Calls Project Veritas "Nothing More than a PR Machine"

According to Media Matters, "Valdes also had harsh words for Project Veritas, suggesting the organization is less concerned with news and more focused on inflating O'Keefe's standing among conservative media."[17]

"Each story that goes out is designed to push him further ahead as a leader in conservative media," Valdes said. "I think it's questionable if you purport yourself to be a news outlet and you are nothing more than a P.R. machine. That's something I have learned in my time there."[17]

Ties to the State Policy Network

Project Veritas Attends 2019 State Policy Network Annual Meeting

Project Veritas sent its Development Officer, Christine McPherson, and Development Associate Taylor Anderson to the State Policy Network 2019 Annual Meeting, the Center for Media and Democracy reported.[34]

Funding

Project Veritas does not appear to disclose its donors, but some of its major funders can be identified from tax filings and other documents. Known funders include:

Core Financials

2018 [37]

Total Revenue: $8,860,335

Total Expenses: $9,696,338

Net Assets: $1,487,813

2017 [38]

Total Revenue: $8,029,634

Total Expenses: $8,322,867

Net Assets: $2,323,816

2016 [39]

Total Revenue: $4,857,637

Total Expenses: $3,559,793

Net Assets: $2,617,049

2015 [40]

Total Revenue: $3,705,349

Total Expenses: $3,146,527

Net Assets: $1,319,205

2014 [41]

Total Revenue: $2,416,542

Total Expenses: $1,863,204

Net Assets: $760,383

2013 [42]

Total Revenue: $1,201,646

Total Expenses: $1,085,108

Net Assets: $153,475

2012 [43]

Total Revenue: $738,210

Total Expenses: $694,501

Net Assets: $36,937

2011 [4]

Total Revenue: $396,450

Total Expenses: $403,222

Net Assets: $-6,722

Personnel

Staff

As of December 2018:[44][37]

James O'Keefe, Founder and President

Russel Verney, Executive Director

Adam Guillette, Vice President of Development

Will Keiper, Chief Operations Officer

Joe Halderman, Executive Producer

Tom O'Hara, Chief Financial Officer

Stephen Gordon, Director Special Projects

Fredy Mfuko, Production Manager

Trevor Tomlinson, Director of IT

Unconfirmed staff as of March 2020

Rich Valdés, Director of Operations [45] (former) [17]

(former) Jim Dimeo, IT and Communications Manager[46]

Board of Directors

As of 2018:[37]

James O'Keefe, Chairman

Colin Sharkey, Director

James Young, Director

Matthew Tyrmand, Director

Project Veritas

1214 W. Boston Post Road, No. 145

Mamaroneck, NY 10543 Phone: (914) 908-2300

Website: https://www.projectveritas.com

Email: info@projectveritas.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Project_Veritas

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProjectVeritas

Articles and Resources

IRS Form 990 Filings

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

External Articles and Resources