Founder of Project Veritas dismissed

MAMARONECK, N.Y. — Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe said in a speech posted online Monday that he has been removed as the group’s leader.

In remarks that appeared to have been made at a Project Veritas office, O’Keefe said the board had stripped him of all decision-making. The move comes after the board reportedly put him on leave from his role as chairman amid complaints about his treatment of staff at the organization, which is known for using hidden cameras and hiding identities to try to ensnare journalists in embarrassing conversations and to reveal political bias.

“So currently, I have no job at Project Veritas,” O’Keefe said in the video. “I have no position here based upon what the board has done. So I’m announcing to you all that today on President’s Day, I’m packing up my personal belongings.”

In a statement released later Monday, the group’s board of directors said it had uncovered “financial malfeasance” and accused O’Keefe of spending “an excessive amount of donor funds in the last three years on personal luxuries.”

According to the group, those included “$14,000 on a charter flight to meet someone to fix his boat under the guise of meeting with a donor”; $60,000 in losses from dance events; more than $150,000 “in Black Cars in the last 18 months”; and others.

The statement added that O’Keefe had been suspended in recent weeks. It said he was invited to meet with the board to discuss financial issues and staff retention and morale, but he ignored those entreaties and “today … decided to remove his belongings from Project Veritas headquarters.”