Lies May Have Finally Caught Up To James O’Keefe And Project Veritas (VIDEO)


By now, most of you know that the right-wing provocateurs at Project Veritas sent in a recently-hired operative, Jaime Phillips, to try to rook The Washington Post into printing bogus statutory rape accusations against Roy Moore. But Phillips’ story crumbled under basic scrutiny–and in the process, proved beyond all doubt that her bosses at Project Veritas have no standards whatsoever. After all, this was nothing more than victim-shaming.

Well, it looks like James O’Keefe and his army of deplorables may be getting a dose of karma far sooner than expected. It seems that Project Veritas didn’t tell New York state officials about O’Keefe’s criminal record. Now that lie puts Project Veritas at risk of losing the ability to raise money in its nominal home state.

On Thursday night, O’Keefe put in an appearance at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, as the guest of SMU’s chapter of Young Americans for Freedom. Watch here.

That appearance before a receptive crowd capped off a bumpy week for O’Keefe. Less than 24 hours earlier, New York state attorney general Eric Schneiderman sent Project Veritas a letter putting O’Keefe and friends on notice that they had been caught lying on their application to raise money in the state seven years ago.

For those who don’t recall, in January 2010, O’Keefe and two of his cronies were arrested for posing as telephone repairmen in order to get into the New Orleans office of then-Senator Mary Landrieu. That June, O’Keefe pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of entering a federal building under false pretenses.

But that’s not what Project Veritas told New York state officials when it applied for a fundraising license that December. The group certified that none of its officers, directors, or principal executives had been convicted of a crime. Schneiderman’s office warned O’Keefe that this is potentially a violation of a state law that bars making false statements when applying for registration in the state. It gave O’Keefe until December 14 to explain himself, or else Project Veritas could be barred from raising money in New York.


Additionally, Project Veritas failed to notify New York officials that Utah and Mississippi had barred the group from raising money in their states in 2014 and 2015, respectively–also for O’Keefe’s guilty plea. New York law requires nonprofits to disclose changes to their ability to raise money in other states.

It’s not clear how this could affect Project Veritas’ ability to raise money. However, it would deal a significant symbolic blow to O’Keefe’s fortunes. While Project Veritas is incorporated in Virginia, it is headquartered in Mamaroneck, in Westchester County. Additionally, the state has long been a fountainhead for charitable donations.

Predictably, Project Veritas claims this is a partisan witch hunt. Spokesman Stephen Gordon called Schneiderman’s move “an intentional and malicious attempt to shut us down.” Um, Stephen?  How do you explain not being able to raise money in congested-red Utah and Mississippi? And how do you explain lying on your registration?

It also raises the question–has Project Veritas hidden O’Keefe’s history from other states as well? If that’s the case and it ultimately loses its ability to raise money in New York, it could mark the beginning of the end for O’Keefe and friends.


Granted, none of O’Keefe’s other stunts have crossed the line into criminal conduct, even though they have breached every standard of decency that is known. Taking this outfit down for covering up O’Keefe’s criminal past would be like bringing down Al Capone for tax evasion.

(featured image courtesy Gage Skidmore, available under a Creative Commons BY-SA license)

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.