Right-wing activist James O’Keefe resigned Monday morning from his position leading Project Veritas, the conservative group he founded, after clashing for weeks with his board.
In a video to Project Veritas employees, O’Keefe promised to start a new, rival organization doing similar undercover activist work.
O’Keefe, who became a star on the right by targeting journalists and liberal groups in hidden-camera stings, was placed on paid leave earlier this month amid a dispute with the nonprofit’s board. The board reversed O’Keefe’s firing of two top executives, and received a lengthy memo from unhappy employees detailing O’Keefe’s allegedly “outright cruel” conduct.
A video of O’Keefe announcing his exit was posted to the video website Vimeo. In it, an emotional O’Keefe, standing in front of his desk and a Project Veritas backdrop, claimed he had been pushed out by the board after telling its members to either quit themselves or face his resignation—a gambit that apparently failed. In the 45-minute video, O’Keefe got choked up, quoted Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead, and appeared to wipe away tears as he announced his plans for a new Project Veritas-type group.
“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers and sisters,” O’Keefe said in closing, paraphrasing William Shakespeare’s Henry V.
O’Keefe also posted screenshots of what he claimed were the minutes of the board meeting where he was put on unpaid leave and offered “mental wellness care,” pending the results of a financial audit. Those alleged expenses, according to screenshots provided by O’Keefe in the video, included frequent private-car trips and a $12,600 expense at a wedding hall that O’Keefe claimed was used for the organization’s holiday party.
O’Keefe defended his management style in the video, saying he had sometimes had to make hard choices as Project Veritas’ leader.
“Leadership has a price, and results often come at a human cost,” O’Keefe said.
