Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe has announced that he has left the undercover journalism organization.
O’Keefe announced his exit from his investigative group on Monday.
The news comes after some staffers accused him of creating a hostile work environment.
O’Keefe founded the nonprofit famous for its sting operations in 2011.
He spoke to his former team and the Project Veritas Board of Directors in Mamaroneck, New York, about his departure, according to OANN.
“I was stripped of all decision-making last week,” O’Keefe said in a video posted to Vimeo on Monday.
“Currently, I have no job at Project Veritas,” he added.
“I have no position here based upon what the board has done — so I’m announcing to you all that today, on President’s Day, I’m packing up my personal belongings here.”
Project Veritas spokesman R.C. Maxwell tweeted that O’Keefe “was removed from his position as CEO by the Project Veritas board.”
O’Keefe himself said he was removed as CEO during his remarks.
He claimed he had issued an ultimatum to the board to resign.
In the video, O’Keefe hints at his future after Project Veritas.
“Our mission continues on,” he said.
“I’m not done. The mission will perhaps take on a new name.”
WATCH:
BREAKING VIDEO: James O'Keefe addresses Project Veritas staff as he exits from the organization he founded following a high-profile board dispute. "Our mission continues on. I'm not done. The mission will perhaps take on a new name…" pic.twitter.com/0fZov5AXa3
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) February 20, 2023
Word of internal strife at Project Veritas was first reported on February 8 by New York Magazine’s Intelligencer website.
The report said that O’Keefe took a paid leave from his leadership position while the board weighed his future with the company.
The report said Project Veritas Executive Director, Daniel Strack, told staffers in an internal memo that O’Keefe would be taking “a few weeks of well-deserved PTO.”
Around this time, it was revealed that 16 staffers signed a letter, dated February 6, raising several allegations against O’Keefe.
The allegations include that he was “outright cruel” to members of the organization.
“James has become a power-drunk tyrant and he is exactly who he pontificates on who we should be exposing,” the letter said.
Project Veritas released a statement on the evening of February 8, saying it was broadly in response to news reports.
The Project Veritas Board of Directors and Management “are constantly evaluating what the best path forward is for the organization,” the statement read, in part.
The statement, which noted Project Veritas has 65-plus employees, did not directly address the situation involving O’Keefe.
With O’Keefe’s future at Project Veritas in question, Twitter user “Swig” shared an image of a cease-and-desist letter from a law firm representing donors addressed to the Project Veritas Board of Directors raising concerns about any effort to remove the founder.
The controversy follows videos of a Project Veritas sting operation showing an alleged Pfizer research director on a hidden camera seemingly spilling Covid secrets.
He was then filmed having a meltdown when confronted by O’Keefe and told he was set up.
READ MORE: Facebook Threatens to Permanently Ban Project Veritas after Pfizer Exposé
