Lauren C. Moye, FISM News
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Over a dozen whistleblowers who worked with Project Veritas and James O’Keefe released a video on Friday that supports the ousted founder and creative visionary of the company.
Spearheaded by Zach Vorhies, who has been vocal in his support of O’Keefe since his departure from Project Veritas was first announced on Feb. 20, the video features a total of 14 whistleblowers from different companies who have worked directly with O’Keefe.
“We, the Whistleblowers of Project Veritas, stand with James O’Keefe,” Vorhies, the Google whistleblower who disclosed Google’s artificial intelligence censoring system, said.
We, the Whistleblowers of Project Veritas stand with James O'Keefe.
Retweet, if you #StandWithJames. pic.twitter.com/BCvRftLMkc
— Zach Vorhies / Google Whistleblower (@Perpetualmaniac) February 24, 2023
The coalition of supporters also released an accompanying statement on Friday.
“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,” the whistleblowers said.
They noted they were initially reluctant to go public with crucial information but were won over by O’Keefe because of his “dedication to journalistic integrity and honesty.”
They continued, “That currency of trust can’t be bought with money, and we knew James would never sell us out, and he never did.”
The companies represented by the Whistleblowers include Google, Facebook, ESPN and Disney, CNN, Pfizer, and more.
The O’Keefe defenders credit the investigative journalist for creating a community of whistleblowers, which then encourage others to speak out about injustice and wrongdoing at their own companies.
In a video by Project Veritas staff also released on Friday, O’Keefe was called the “creative visionary” of the company’s mission. The staff members then pledged to carry on with that mission.
“But for now, we see it as our job to hold the torch for him, while keeping the door wide open for his return,” the staff said.
The staff video was widely interpreted as a plea to donors to keep money flowing to Project Veritas. Project Veritas lost almost 200,000 followers on their Twitter account on Feb. 20 alone. Multiple donors have also publicly posted that they have either asked for recent donations to be refunded or have cut ties with the company.
O’Keefe’s departure from the company remains controversial with conflicting reports.
FISM previously reported that O’Keefe had been placed on paid leave in early February. After this report, it was learned that several employees had sent Project Veritas board members a letter in which they called O’Keefe a “power-drunk tyrant” and accused him of harsh leadership.
In the Feb. 20 resignation, O’Keefe said that the board had indefinitely suspended him. He was removed from his position as CEO and prohibited from contacting donors.
However, Project Veritas responded to this video by denying that O’Keefe had been fired or asked to resign. Instead, they said he was removed as CEO due to “financial malfeasance.”
In late January, Project Veritas went viral for revealing a senior Pfizer official talk about the COVID-19 mutation research the company had undertaken.