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A Dozen Project Veritas Whistleblowers Pen Letter to the Board, Declare That They Stand With James O'Keefe

'We stand united with James O’Keefe'

Published: February 24, 2023
  |   By Cassandra MacDonald

Thirteen Project Veritas whistleblowers have published a video and penned a letter to the organization’s board of directors saying they stand with the ousted founder, James O’Keefe.

The whistleblowers, or “Project Veritas Insiders,” as the organization refers to them, are the people who left their jobs and risked their livelihoods to expose corruption and wrongdoings within their companies by bringing information to Project Veritas.

O’Keefe was removed from his position as CEO by the Project Veritas board earlier this month. The blowback against the organization was swift, as hundreds of thousands of people unfollowed them on social media.

Many, including people within Project Veritas, referred to the move as a coup.

In the letter to the board, the Insiders wrote, “as individuals who trusted Project Veritas with our stories, the removal of James O’Keefe by the Board of Directors was extremely disappointing and shocking. Without James O’Keefe, there is no Project Veritas.”

“We have all worked directly with Project Veritas journalists and in many cases spent months working with them and also interacting with Mr. O’Keefe both before going public and afterwards during various events,” the whistleblowers continued. “We sacrificed our jobs and our livelihoods in order to give James O’Keefe hard evidence of fraud and corruption, whether it was at CBS news, Fox news, Google, Facebook, UPS, Pfizer, Hasbro, DHS, CNN, ESPN, HHS, or United Healthcare.”

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: James O’Keefe Tells Project Veritas Staff, ‘I’ve Been Removed From CEO and Board’

“Many of us were reluctant to go public, but because of O’Keefe’s dedication to journalistic integrity and honesty, we made the leap to go public with our stories, because we trusted him and the organization,” the letter said. “That currency of trust can’t be bought with money, and we knew James would never sell us out, and he never did. He always had our back. He stayed true to his word and his undercover journalists went to great lengths to share our stories in the most compelling manner possible.”

The Insiders warned that O’Keefe’s removal has “dealt a devastating blow to future whistleblowers who now may have doubts about the organization and its leadership.”

“Many of us were inspired by other whistleblowers who went public, and we forged strong relationships with one another after being fired and dealing with media blowback, hit pieces and harassment. Because of James, there is a growing movement of whistleblowers who are willing to come forward and tell their stories,” the letter continued. “We stand united with James O’Keefe and his team of journalists, and we are confident they will continue to fight for the truth and expose corruption.”

The letter was signed with “Project Veritas Insiders” symbolically crossed out and “O’Keefe’s Insiders” in its place.

Signatories on the letter were Facebook Insider Cassandra Spencer, ESPN/Disney Insider Trevor Adams, Google Insider Zach Vorhies, CNN Insider Cary Poarch, Hasbro Insider David Johnson, HHS Vaccine Insider Jodi O’Malley, CBS Insider April Moss, Pfizer Insider Melissa McAtee, Fox News Insider Ivory Hecker, United Healthcare/LDH Insider Jeanne Stagg, USPS Insider Richard Hopkins, HHS Insider Tara Rodas, and Kent Heckenlively JD, who was a coauthor for several of the whistleblowers.

Spencer, who exposed the intelligence community’s influence in moderating Facebook content, told Timcast News that O’Keefe is the person many of them came to trust as they put their lives and reputations on the line.

“As the first insider, it has been so amazing to see how the PV Insider program blossomed. Coming from all walks of life, we found camaraderie and felt we had a home at Project Veritas. While the insiders are not employees of Project Veritas, because many us sacrificed careers and risked our financial, legal, and sometimes physical safety to bring transparency and truth to the public; our lives and reputations are tied to the organization and so we are affected as well,” Spencer told Timcast. “For us, James O’Keefe is the person who we grew to trust. We want to show him that we continue to support him during this difficult time.”

As Timcast News previously reported, a group of 16 Project Veritas employees asked the non-profit’s board of directors to remove O’Keefe earlier this month. They penned a letter exposing internal tensions within the organization.

“The undersigned is troubled and frustrated with James’ management style and business acumen,” the letter began. “These behaviors and actions are antithetical to our core values, and it came to a head this week. Most recently, the treatment of Barry Hinckley and Tom O’Hara.”

The group accused O’Keefe of becoming a “power-drunk tyrant” and said that “he is exactly who he pontificates on who we should be exposing.”

A leaked email from the organization, sent to large donors, claimed that O’Keefe was placed on “temporary suspension until the audit was completed,” noting the founder “specifically said he did not resign, and the board did not fire him.”

Editor’s Note: one of the whistleblowers asked for their name to be removed after the publication of this article. The headline has been changed to reflect the smaller number.

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