UPDATE: James O'Keefe posts photo with Robert F Kennedy Jr, Project Veritas releases new statement

Following a statement released by Project Veritas Executive Director Daniel Strack on Wednesday afternoon, Project Veritas retweeted a photo from Robert F Kennedy Jr showing himself with Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe in Santa Monica.

"Of course [James O’Keefe] is alive and well. Why wouldn’t he be?" Project Veritas wrote. "We’re sure many of you can agree, there is nothing better than enjoying a well deserved vacation."

The retweet came hours after a statement from Strack on behalf of five board members saying that O’Keefe has not been removed from Project Veritas.

"At Project Veritas, we believe in radical transparency coupled with respect, empathy, and honesty," the statement began. "A few weeks ago, a number of our staff members provided leadership with some verbal feedback describing real management concerns regarding the treatment of people and our internal processes."

Strack wrote that this feedback "prompted the board to solicit feedback from additional staff members," noting that an internal letter was leaked. "The narrative that is being portrayed by referencing this letter is patently false."

"James has not been removed from Project Veritas. Nowhere in that letter was there ever a suggestion to remove James from the organization," the statement continued.

Strack said that more than 16 employees provided feedback, and that "this letter was not the only feedback collected." 16 members signed a letter outlining complaints about O'Keefe's leadership. It was reported that O'Keefe was on paid leave.

"James is the hardest working person I have ever met. Those who know him well know that he will not take time off unless forced to," Strack said.

"The Project Veritas Board of Directors is made up of seasoned and active members of their communities with many years serving on other 501c3 boards. They do not get paid by Project Veritas. They are multi-year donors. They all love James. They are volunteers hand-picked by James," the statement continued. "As a 501c3 non-profit entity, the Board takes their responsibilities seriously."

Strack stated that as Executive Director, "I am an officer of the organization. My role is to manage our team and help create better processes and procedures to help address the concerns of our team, our board and James O'Keefe."

"While I do understand the timing of this situation alongside the biggest story in our organization's history is confusing and very easy to come up with conspiracy theories, I assure you we are still, in no way, and will never be, 'Brought to you by Pfizer.' Nor do we have any political preferences for any candidates running for office," he added.

"I have always been, and remain, committed to working with James and the PV team, who I am so proud to be a part of, to continue our mission to expose corruption and deliver truth to the American people without fear or favor," Strack concluded.

The letter was issued by Strack on behalf of five board members: Steven Alembik, Joseph Barton, John Garvey, George Skakel, and Matthew Tyrmand. The Project Veritas board was hit with a cease and desist letter late last week from major donors, stating that "We are concerned that the Board may already be acting in violation of Virginia charitable solicitation and trust law and ask that the Board refrain from taking further actions to fundamentally undermine the purposes for which Project Veritas be established."