James O’Keefe, the founder and former CEO of Project Veritas, is under investigation by the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, according to a new report from The Nation. When asked for details about rumors of an investigation into O’Keefe, the director of public affairs at the district attorney’s office said that while they couldn’t get into specifics, they could confirm that O’Keefe was currently being investigated.
It was only a few months ago that O’Keefe’s and Project Veritas’ acrimonious split became public. Leaks of unhappy staff, a power struggle, and possible financial malfeasance have dogged the right-wing muckraking operation for the last couple of months. In May, Project Veritas filed a complaint against O’Keefe alleging he had failed in his “fiduciary duties” to the company, and making disparaging comments about the nonprofit while still being under contract. It also reiterates claims of “financial misconduct by O’Keefe.”
There is speculation that the Westchester district attorney is investigating some of these financial misconduct claims. Project Veritas reportedly hired a third party to complete an audit targeting O’Keefe’s expenditures over the years after allegations he had spent donor money on “personal luxury” items like personal DJ equipment and “dance events.”
RELATED STORY: Project Veritas' founder is out, shares 47-minute rant about being forced to resign
The last couple of years of O’Keefe tenure at Project Veritas were marked by legal loses, claims of being defrauded by other scam artists, and acts of God. (Hurricane Ida flooded the nonprofit’s headquarters in September 2021.) Long gone are the days when Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice (and billionaire pocket-dweller) Clarence Thomas, handed out pretend journalism awards to O’Keefe and friends.
Thoughts and prayers.
Did anything happen while we were all taking a well-deserved break? Something about Donald Trump being indicted not once, but two times! Also in the news: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign collapse. So much is happening!
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