James O’Keefe and Others Being Sued By Project Veritas And Veritas Action Fund –

New York – (ECWd) –

James O’keefe, the founder of Project Veritas which is known for exposing numerous corrupt practices by both government and private agencies, finds himself on the receiving end of what appears to be a scathing exposure of his activities within his own organization.

In addition to O’keefe, his new company, Transparency 1, LLC d/b/a O’KEEFE MEDIA GROUP, RC, Maxwell, and Anthony Iatropoulos are also named in the civil action.

The twelve-count civil suit includes the following named counts:

• COUNT I -BREACH OF CONTRACT – O’Keefe
• COUNT II – VIOLATION OF DEFEND TRADE SECRETS ACT – O’Keefe
• COUNT III -BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY – O’Keefe
• COUNT IV -BREACH OF DUTY OF LOYALTY – O’Keefe
• COUNT V -CONVERSION – O’Keefe
• COUNT VI – REPLEVIN – O’Keefe
• COUNT VII – INDEMNIFICATION – O’Keefe
• COUNT VIII – TORTIOUS INTERFERENCE WITH CONTRACT – OMG
• COUNT IX – BREACH OF CONTRACT – Iatropoulos
• COUNT X – BREACH OF CONTRACT Maxwell
• COUNT XI – TORTIOUS INTERFERENCE WITH CONTRACT – OMG
• COUNT XII – TORTIOUS INTERFERENCE WITH CONTRACT – OMG

Below are just a few of the allegations outlined in the complaint which is below or can be downloaded at this link.

“During O’Keefe’s employment, the Board became aware of serious allegations by Project Veritas employees about incredibly troubling workplace and financial misconduct by O’Keefe.”

“O’Keefe was alleged to have particularly targeted female employees with meanspirited comments about their lack of contributions to the companies and inappropriate comments about personal situations like pregnancies.”

“Other employees alleged that they personally had observed obscene messages between O’Keefe and various women on social media applications when accessing O’Keefe’s phone for work-related matters”

“Multiple employees alleged that O’Keefe used Project Veritas employees to run personal errands for him. These errands included picking up O’Keefe’s laundry, cleaning his boat, repairing his boat, and doing other similar errands for O’Keefe.”

“O’Keefe also allegedly used his Project Veritas credit card for some personal expenses, and directed Project Veritas funds to be used for lavish expenses and, in some instances, his personal benefit. Examples of these allegations included:”

• Directing the organization to pay more than $10,000 for a helicopter flight from New York to Maine without a clear benefit to Project Veritas;
• Directing the organization to pay for first-class air travel for O’Keefe even where the flight did not satisfy the organization’s policy for approving firstclass flights;
• Using his Project Veritas credit card for expensive hotel rooms and suites at luxury hotels without clear business purpose, when other employees on the same trips were required to stay in budget accommodations;
• Directing the organization to pay for expenses associated with large organizational awareness events like the Project Veritas Experience, without engaging in any analysis to help the organization understand the potential return on investment or capitalize on the connections made through these events; and
• Causing the organization to pay for his regular use of private car services (“black cars”), even to go relatively short distances in and around
  Manhattan and then wait outside of restaurants for hours, at a total expense of more than $150,000 over the past 18 months.

“After authorization to use the card was revoked on February 6, 2023, O’Keefe continued to use the Project Veritas credit card for personal expenses, in the amount of approximately $19,000.”

“O’Keefe also has misappropriated Project Veritas property by taking Project Veritas’s equipment, donor lists and intellectual property for his own use with OMG.”

The summons for the case was issued to the defendants on June 1, 2023. The case has been assigned to Judge Cathy Seibel.