Project Veritas slammed for video saying staff is 'loyal to James' vision'

On Friday, Project Veritas released a video on social media saying they "remain loyal" to the vision of founder James O'Keefe, who was removed on Monday (February 20) from the news organization after 16 employees complained of his "management style and business acumen."

On Twitter, Project Veritas posted the video and wrote, "We have and always will remain loyal to James' vision, our mission, our country, and our supporters." The video's narration said, "High level disputes between our leader and founder James O'Keefe, and the volunteer board of directors who are responsible for oversight of the nonprofit have resulted in James no longer being here. James is not only the founder of Project Veritas, but the creative visionary of our mission."

The video was released hours after a group of whistleblowers who worked with Project Veritas over the years made a video in support of the ousted founder. The whisleblowers gave their names, the companies they blew the whistle on, and said "I stand with James O'Keefe."

As of Saturday morning, the "message from the Project Veritas staff" video features roughly 4,000 likes and over 14,000 comments, qualifying it as "ratio'd." The term describes a circumstance when a social media post garners more replies than likes, and is typically indicative of the public's dislike.

"This devastated us and the audience we exist for. James hasn't resigned, nor was he fired. These events confused and they hurt us, leaving all of us in a state of limbo," the video continued.

Initial reports said O'Keefe had resigned but later Project Veritas claimed O'Keefe was removed from his role as CEO by the Board.

In an exclusive letter obtained by The Post Millennial Editor-at-Large Andy Ngo, O'Keefe said, "I asked the board to resign for their conduct — they did not. So currently, I have no position at PV based on the board's actions. So, I'm announcing to you all that today on President's day — I'm packing up my personal effects from headquarters, and I'm intending to start anew."

Psychologist and outspoken critic of CRT, Karlyn Borysenko, replied, "The Board needs to resign. That is the only way forward to rebuild trust."

The video, overlaid with music and juxtaposed to images of staff, also claimed the staff "want James back" and "The board may have their obligations but we are Project Veritas."

Following the news that O'Keefe was ousted, Project Veritas lost almost 200,000 followers on Twitter in a single day.

"We don't blame anyone for assuming the worst or thinking we've been co opted by some outside force. But this fact still stands. No board or donor ever tells us what to report and they never will," the video said, adding later that they "hold the torch" for O'Keefe to return and "keep the spirit of James's mission alive."

The chain of events leading to the founder's removal from the company started with a February 6 memo leaked from 16 Project Veritas employees who said they had problems with O'Keefe's "cruel behavior."

"James has become a power drunk tyrant and he is exactly who he pontificates on who we should be exposing," wrote one of the 16 employees.

The video closed by saying that they have reporters in the field and "It's possible we may never earn back the trust of his audience. But we owe it to all of you to try."