Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe is departing from the organization following several weeks of internal strife, multiple sources reported on Monday.
Later, podcast host Donald Trump Jr. and surrogates of O’Keefe stated that the Project Veritas founder did not resign.
Former Project Veritas employee Neil McCabe tweeted, “Exclusive, @JamesOKeefelll, my friend and former boss at @Project_Veritas just read his resignation letter to his former team and board members at their Mamaroneck, N.Y. headquarters. James will make his own way—as he always has before.”
Video of O’Keefe reading his official parting remarks to Project Veritas staffers was later posted to Vimeo, a video sharing platform.
O’Keefe founded Project Veritas in 2011, and the organization has published numerous stories involving corruption at various levels of political and corporate hierarchies.
As Valiant News previously reported, Daniel Strack, the Executive Director of Project Veritas, told employees that O’Keefe would be taking “a few weeks of well-deserved PTO” earlier this month.
While the board had “not come up with final solutions yet, we have made a few immediate decisions,” according to the internal message. At least two of those immediate decisions were the reinstatement of the recently fired COO Barry Hinckley, and CFO Tom O’Hara.
Hinckley and O’Hara were reportedly fired by O’Keefe, after a letter dated February 6th featuring testimonials from anonymous Project Veritas employees, was circulated, describing him as a “power-drunk tyrant,” among other accusations. Hinckley later told staff that he was fired because he “stood up to a bully.”
Michael Swartz, the founder of Old Row, tweeted that a source from inside Project Veritas had informed him that O’Keefe had been “stripped of all authority” at the organisation, and was subjected to a “six and a half-hour struggle session” where the board “subjected him to constant derision and insults.”
This news and commentary by Gabriel Keane originally appeared on Valiant News.