Radar Online
The founder of Project Veritas, James O'Keefe, was removed from his position on the company's board and stripped of his title as CEO after a group of employees publicly condemned his leadership, RadarOnline.com has learned.
O'Keefe founded the far-right activist group in 2010. Listed as a 501(c)(3) corporation, O'Keefe's Project Veritas allegedly produced and distributed highly-edited videos from its undercover operations in an attempt to discredit mainstream media and political opponents by touting conspiracy theories.
The 38-year-old former CEO was placed on paid leave before his removal while board members considered action against him for alleged workplace misconduct and mismanaging donor funds.
According to New York Magazine via The Daily Beast, a group of Project Veritas staffers accused O'Keefe of “outright cruel” treatment to employees and wasting company funds.
The latest development from the damning reporting came on Monday when O'Keefe announced that he would be leaving the company he founded 13 years ago, revealing the news in a 15-minute video.
“Throughout my 13 years doing this my mission has evolved,” O'Keefe said in the video. “Over the last few weeks, I have felt a lot of despair and seen a lot of evil and felt overcome with various emotions.”
“I take away from these the gratitude that I have for many of you, most of you…I reflected upon my appreciation for many of you, what makes this great is because we actually believe in this, we have a passion for this and we have principle,” the former CEO continued.
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As O'Keefe's voice cracked, he added that “the external threats and pressure inflicted upon myself has been unimaginable.” The far-right activist revealed that he was suspended “indefinitely without compensation” per a memo from Project Veritas board members.
Nonetheless, O'Keefe vowed that his company's work would carry on without him.
“Project Veritas will never be stopped from the outside, it will only be because we stopped ourselves,” O'Keefe said as he quoted a former board member.
“Prophetic as it may be, that is exactly where we find ourselves in the situation today,” the ousted CEO added. “A situation where I have been stripped of my authority as CEO and removed from the board of directors, bet you didn't know that.”
