The founder and former CEO of the undercover media company wins a favorable ruling from a federal judge after months of bitter litigation.
A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Tuesday morning issued a directed verdict in favor of James O’Keefe, the defendant in a legal action brought by Project Veritas, the company he founded and led as CEO until his termination by its board in May 2023.
The judge also rejected the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction against O’Keefe.
“The powers that be try everything they can to shut me up and shut me down, but I will never surrender so long as you have my back.”
O’Keefe had faced allegations of breaching his fiduciary duty according to his employment contract, as well as violating his agreement by forming a rival media outlet just before his termination and of making use of the Project Veritas donor network to support his new venture.
On Feb. 17, 2023, O’Keefe founded O’Keefe Media Group (OMG). On April 24, 2023, O’Keefe was formally removed from the board, and on May 15, 2023, the company fired him, according to the complaint.
A codefendant, Anthony Iatrapoulos, was also accused of a breach of contract.
Conflicting Claims
Founded in 2010, Project Veritas bills itself as an organization dedicated to investigative journalism. Its website states it exposes “corruption in government, media, big tech, politics, education, and beyond through undercover video.”
The website sets forth an agenda based on the aggressive defense of freedom of speech and freedom of the media. The company’s primary modus operandi was to use recording devices surreptitiously during conversations with members of organizations or government agencies, in the hope of catching statements or comments that would reveal undisclosed agendas to the public.
Project Veritas became the subject of a Department of Justice investigation in 2021, shortly before the 2020 presidential election, concerning the publication of a diary that had belonged to the daughter of then-presidential candidate Joe Biden.
In the latter section, Project Veritas contradicts O’Keefe’s claim that it “ousted” him for releasing a story about the pharmaceutical firm Pfizer. The company also disputes O’Keefe’s assertion that he did not make use of company expense policies to help cover a deposit for his wedding.
Moreover, it alleged that O’Keefe badmouthed Project Veritas to the media and suggested that it had forced him out over the Pfizer story and other illegitimate reasons.
O’Keefe’s lawyers, from the Florida-based firm Childers Law, successfully argued against the allegations.
Neither O’Keefe nor Project Veritas responded to a request for comment by publication time.