Mornin’ Politocadoes!
Anyone remember Project Veritas? The “journalistic” non-profit that pulls pranks on Democratic organizations and then tapes the results? Well, they’ve been having a rough time of it as of late. FBI investigations, staffer firings, and the loss of donors has sent the, well, I guess I can’t even call it muckraking, um, Professional Lying organization into a tailspin. But the rot starts at the head too, with founder James O’Keefe who has been removed from the organization. The reason? Being an abusive dick whom also embezzles money to force his staffers to watch him perform in Oklahoma!
James O’Keefe and Project Veritas first came on the national scene in 2009 when they “exposed” ACORN (an autonomous collection of community-based organizations focused on providing assistance to low and moderate income families). O’Keefe posed as a Pimp in parts of his videos at multiple ACORN locations looking for assistance in starting a business that included underage girls in the sex trade, deceitfully editing the encounters. The fallout from these videos ultimately sealed ACORN’s fate as multiple organizations, such as the IRS and the Census Bureau, ending their contracts as well as the US Congress suspending its funding.
Project Veritas would repeat this pattern to varying degrees of effectiveness releasing videos on Planned Parenthood, NPR, Medicaid, and local elections. All of them deceptively edited and/or with O’Keefe operating under false pretenses.O’Keefe and Project Veritas would go on to do other types of fuckery posing as “investigative journalists”. In 2017, after the Washington Post published it’s expose on Senatorial candidate Roy Moore’s history with teenage girls, O’Keefe approached them with a story about Moore impregnating one. The Post critically examined the story and its source, ultimately turning down the story rightly believing O’Keefe was trying to discredit them.In 2020, O’Keefe and Project Veritas would release videos attempting to substantiate evidence of voter fraud including an alleged cash-for-ballots scheme in Minnesota centering on Rep. Ilhan Omar.
At any rate, O’Keefe was suspended initially from the organization he founded on Monday with staff presenting a memo to its board with their grievances. The memo, signed by sixteen staffers, covers O’Keefe’s demanding and abusive treatment of his staff with some concerned that it could lead to the organization collapsing entirely(god forbid). According to an ex-employee’s lawsuit O’Keefe ran a raucous, sexually charged office with apparently at least one overdose. He conducted at least one “Mole Hunt” in the office, complete with lie detectors and investigators, obsessed with “finding leakers”. During a trial against a Democratic consulting firm that he later lost, O’Keefe berated his staff in front of jurors, and then stole a sandwich from a woman 8 months pregnant. Staffers have literally been spat upon by him.
And finally, O’Keefe is accused of using organization money in inappropriate ways, like making his staff watch him in Oklahoma! See, James was a theater kid in high school and he just loves singing! Sure, it cost the organization $20, 500 in fees to force his employees to come to Virginia and watch him sing, but he’d say it’s worth it as a business expense!
James O’Keefe and Project Veritas are a blight and have done nothing but sow discord since the organization’s founding. If it collapses and it’s because of the corruption of the one man synonymous with it then good, we are all better off. I feel for the employees on a human level, what they’ve dealt with is something no one should. But what kind of person joins something like this? What person stays?
Welcome to Thursday! Please be excellent to each other in the comments. The Mayor McSquirrel Rule remains in effect. As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, if you have not been vaccinated please consider finding time to get an appointment. If you have had only one dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, do not forget about the second dose! A NEW BIVALENT COVID VACCINE is now available to fight against the latest variants! You can get any type of shot you like, provided you have already been double vaccinated. Even if you are vaccinated, please continue to maintain social distancing measures, wear masks in public areas in accordance with CDC guidelines in regard to your own vaccination status. EVEN VACCINATED INDIVIDUALS CAN STILL GET AND SPREAD IT.
