James O'Keefe

James O'Keefe
O'Keefe at a polical conference
O'Keefe in 2023
Born
James Edward O'Keefe III

(1984-06-28) June 28, 1984 (age 40)
EducationRutgers University B.A. in Philosophy (2006)[1]
Occupation(s)Conservative filmmaker and activist
Years active2006–present
Organization(s)Project Veritas
Project Veritas Action
O'Keefe Media Group
Known forActivism[2]
Notable workACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy, Project Veritas videos

James Edward O'Keefe III (born June 28, 1984) is an American political activist who founded Project Veritas, a far-right[3] activist[2] group that uses deceptively edited videos and information gathering techniques to attack mainstream media organizations and progressive groups. Both O'Keefe and Project Veritas have produced secretly recorded undercover audio and video encounters in academic, governmental, and social service organizations, purporting to show abusive or illegal behavior by representatives of those organizations; the recordings are often selectively edited to misrepresent the context of the conversations and the subjects' responses.[4] O'Keefe served as chairman until he was fired from the organization in February 2023.[5][6][7]

O'Keefe first gained national attention for his selectively edited video recordings of workers at Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) offices in 2009, his arrest and misdemeanor guilty plea in 2010 for entering the federal office of then-U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) under false pretenses, and the release of misleading videos of conversations with two high-ranking, now former, NPR executives in 2011.

When his videos – heavily edited to portray ACORN workers seemingly aiding a couple in criminal planning – were publicized, the U.S. Congress voted to freeze funds for the non-profit. The national controversy resulted in the non-profit also losing most of its private funding before investigations of the videos concluded no illegal activity occurred. In March 2010, ACORN was close to bankruptcy and had to close or rename most of its offices.[8][9] Shortly thereafter, the California State Attorney General's Office and the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released their related investigative reports. The Attorney General's Office found that O'Keefe had misrepresented the actions of ACORN workers in California and that the workers had not broken any laws. A preliminary probe by the GAO found that ACORN had managed its federal funds appropriately.[10][11] One of the fired ACORN workers sued O'Keefe for invasion of privacy; O'Keefe issued an apology and agreed to pay $100,000 in a settlement.

O'Keefe has gained support from right-wing and conservative media and interest groups, as well as from the far right.[12] In 2009, Andrew Breitbart commissioned him for the option to publish new videos exclusively on BigGovernment.

The Project Veritas board removed O'Keefe from leadership positions in February 2023 for what it said was financial malfeasance with donor money.[13] On March 15, 2023, O'Keefe launched a new organization called O'Keefe Media Group.[14] Project Veritas subsequently sued O'Keefe and two others, alleging that they had created the competing O'Keefe Media Group while still employees, approaching PV's donors and using company funds for this purpose. O'Keefe was also alleged to have improperly spent company funds on himself.[15][16]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference highjinks was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Activist...
    • Scherer, Jasper (January 11, 2023). "Conroe brewery backs out of 'rally against censorship' featuring Kyle Rittenhouse". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved February 9, 2023. Cassandra Spencer, a Defiance Press publishing manager who previously worked for the conservative activist group Project Veritas, is also set to appear at the rally
    • "Trump applauds far-right social media provocateurs". AP NEWS. April 21, 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2023. Trump singled out for praise James O'Keefe, the right-wing activist whose Project Veritas organization once tried to plant a false story in The Washington Post.
    • Barry, Dan (November 6, 2022). "In Affluent Greenwich, It's Republicans vs. 'Trumplicans'". The New York Times. Retrieved February 9, 2023. The Greenwich Republican ecosystem is such that James O'Keefe, the founder of the conservative activist group Project Veritas, is practically a local celebrity.
    • DePeau-Wilson, Michael (January 31, 2023). "Video of Pfizer Employee Explaining COVID Vaccine Research Debunked". www.medpagetoday.com. Retrieved February 9, 2023. Project Veritas, a conservative activist group known for spreading misinformation, recently published a concealed-camera video allegedly showing a Pfizer employee describing the company's COVID-19 vaccine research efforts
    • Greene, David (November 29, 2017). "A Conservative On Project Veritas". Morning Edition. Retrieved February 9, 2023. The conservative activist James O'Keefe and his nonprofit Project Veritas have sprung sting operations on many media organizations, including NPR. In 2011, after one such scheme, NPR pushed out our CEO and also our top fundraiser. These operations often involve undercover videos edited in misleading ways.
    • Al-Rawi, Ahmed; Celestini, Carmen; Stewart, Nicole; Worku, Nathan (March 21, 2022). "How Google Autocomplete Algorithms about Conspiracy Theorists Mislead the Public". M/C Journal. 25 (1). doi:10.5204/mcj.2852. eISSN 1441-2616. S2CID 247603535. The same misleading label can be found via searching for James O'Keefe of Project Veritas, who is positively labelled as "American activist". Veritas is known for releasing audio and video recordings that contain false information designed to discredit academic, political, and service organisations
    • Jackson, Sam (2020). The Oath Keepers : patriotism and the edge of violence in a right-wing antigovernment group. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231550314. Groups like Oath Keepers pounced on information provided by Project Veritas—a conservative activist group known for conducting manipulative video stings of progressive organizations—that allegedly documented organized attempts by Democrats to rig the election
  3. ^ Far-right...
  4. ^ Deceptive edits...
  5. ^ "Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe out at right-wing org". Associated Press. February 20, 2023. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  6. ^ Stanley-Becker, Isaac (February 20, 2023). "James O'Keefe is out at Project Veritas after internal power struggle". Washington Post. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  7. ^ Schmidt, Michael S.; Fahrenthold, David A.; Goldman, Adam (February 20, 2023). "James O'Keefe Leaves His Post as the Leader of Project Veritas". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  8. ^ Urbina, Ian (March 20, 2010). "Acorn on Brink of Bankruptcy, Officials Say". The New York Times. New York City. Archived from the original on April 25, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2015.
  9. ^ "Just How Heavily Edited Was the ACORN-Sting Video?". Intelligencer. April 2, 2010. Archived from the original on May 3, 2021. Retrieved May 3, 2021.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference huff-acorn-vind was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference cnn-acorn-vind was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Bennett, W. Lance; Livingston, Steven (October 2020). "The Coordinated Attack on Authoritative Institutions". The Disinformation Age. Cambridge University Press. pp. 261–294. doi:10.1017/9781108914628.011. ISBN 978-1-108-91462-8. In this case, Project Veritas was made to look foolish, just as it had in 2012 when it attempted a videotape sting operation against the voter registration group ACORN. In that instance, a judge even ordered James O'Keefe, Project Veritas's provocateur-in-chief, to pay $100,000 in damages to two ACORN employees. But rather than damaging O'Keefe and his organization, the ACORN scandal enamored him with the libertarian far-right.
  13. ^ "Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe out at right-wing org". Associated Press. February 20, 2023.
  14. ^ Morton, Victor. "OMG: Ousted Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe launches new media venture". The Washington Times. Retrieved April 4, 2023.
  15. ^ Sommer, Will (May 31, 2023). "Project Veritas sues founder James O'Keefe over his messy departure". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  16. ^ Sheth, Jacob; Shamsian, Sonam (May 31, 2023). "Project Veritas sues its founder James O'Keefe, alleging he set up a competitor and wooed donors while on the company's payroll". Business Insider. Retrieved June 1, 2023.