Just weeks after exposing Pfizer to the world, James O’Keefe may be shown the door Friday at Project Veritas. “What?” you might be thinking. “O’Keefe is Project Veritas!”

I guess if they can kick Aunt Jemima off her own syrup bottle, anything is possible.

On Wednesday night, Project Veritas said O’Keefe has been placed on paid leave for “well-deserved PTO.” However, New York magazine reported his fate is being decided at a meeting tomorrow of the news organization’s Board of Directors.

Exposing the Deceptions and Corruption of the Left

O’Keefe founded Project Veritas in 2011 and his undercover operations have been devastatingly effective at exposing the powerful, hypocritical and corrupt on the Left. He is dangerous to them. The media and liberals have been out to destroy him since he exposed the corrupt and powerful ACORN political organization in 2009 — by famously going undercover as a pimp.

But now the threat is from within. His own board of directors.

O’Keefe is fresh off showing a top Pfizer executive admitting the pharmacy giant does dangerous gain-of-function research. And got physically assaulted for his trouble. Could that be the reason his board wants him out? Pfizer put on the heat … or plopped out the cash? The timing is curious. That was certainly the reaction on Twitter last night.

Last year, O’Keefe was raided by the FBI who were on the hunt for Ashley Biden’s diary. Joe Biden’s daughter left it a half-way house, but now the Feds claim it was stolen. That’s the diary from rehab where Ashley connects the showers she was forced to take with her father as a little girl to her sexual dysfunction issues as an adult. (You’d think the FBI would be interested in that. Or at least the media. Child sex abuse used to be a thing.)

Could that be the reason the axe hangs over him? The heat from DC? Just three weeks ago New York Magazine posted a story, “Will Ashley Biden’s Stolen Diary Take Down Project Veritas?”

Mismanagement and Internal Issues?

So what gives? In a statement the company did not address O’Keefe’s status specifically, saying:

Like all newsrooms at this stage, the Project Veritas Board of Directors and Management are constantly evaluating what the best path forward is for the organization. There are 65+ employees at Project Veritas dedicated to continuing the mission to expose corruption, dishonesty, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions.

Project Veritas’ Official Response to Today’s News Reports

Despite what the Corporate Media tries to portray about our organization, know this: We have never been more motivated and dedicated to our mission than now. pic.twitter.com/sB7Cz97b5M

— Project Veritas (@Project_Veritas) February 9, 2023

Not exactly a vote of confidence for O’Keefe.

The story you’re getting is O’Keefe is in trouble for his internal day-to-day management of the news organization. According to Daily Beast, a third of the staffers wrote a memo Monday to the board griping about O’Keefe, saying they were “troubled and frustrated” by his management style. They complained he was “outright cruel,” with staffers often feeling “publicly humiliated.”

An internal note to staff from Executive Director Daniel Strack also spoke of this being a “distracting time.” 

Ah, and this is telling. The disgruntled staffers moan in their memo about being required to take lie detector tests. Really? Given the work they do, the huge target on O’Keefe’s back, and the FBI raiding their offices, you don’t think O’Keefe has a right to be suspicious if there are plants in his operation? Especially knowing the degree to which the Biden administration goes to destroy those it sees as a threat? Suck it up, Karen.

Another signal of O’Keefe’s fate. Project Veritas’s board has reportedly reinstated two top-level employees that O’Keefe had recently fired. The substack “Politique Republic” has published details of the in-fighting and is naming names. 

Putting it all together, it seems we are looking at some disgruntled employees, an internal power play, and a Board that’s getting a little tired of the external heat. Mixed in with a boss that perhaps is a better journalist than he is a manager. 

But Will They Really Dump the Founder and Face of the Operation?

But will Project Veritas really get rid of the founder, face and driving force behind their organization? Wouldn’t be the first time. Just ask Apple founder Steve Jobs, the founder of Men’s Warehouse and ol’ Papa John. For that matter, journalist Glenn Greenwald, founder of The Intercept.

Jobs, in fact, may prove the most apt analogy, if the staffer’s complaints are legit. The visionary tech entrepreneur did become something of a jerk during his first go-round at Apple. He was forced out in humiliating fashion. The company floundered while he went off and matured, and when he came back, Apple took off again into the stratosphere.

So, on one hand, a break may do O’Keefe and Project Veritas some good. Getting grounded after years on the go. Get back in the game rested and wiser.

On the other hand, why would Project Veritas give the Left what it’s been drooling for since 2009 … the head of James O’Keefe? You can almost hear the cackles and victory lap already.

Besides, Project Veritas without O’Keefe is like the Pips without Gladys Knight. As Politique Republic notes dumping O’Keefe would be “killing the company.”

It will be interesting to see how Project Veritas’ board handles the situation tomorrow. And of course, what James O’Keefe’s reaction will be.

Take a breather, take correction, take a restructuring … or take his pimp garb and undercover camera and simply start afresh.

Thus far, he has remained mum.

 

Al Perrotta is the Managing Editor of The Stream, chief barista for The Brew and co-author, with John Zmirak, of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration. You can follow him at @StreamingAl at GETTR, Gab, Parler, and now at TRUTH Social.