Founder and CEO of Project Veritas, James O'Keefe, announced a raid by FBI agents on "apartments and homes of Project Veritas [PV] journalists, or former journalists." O'Keefe said the raid was performed for the office of a U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY).
The video statement reveals that the raid was associated with PV's 2020 receipt of what tipsters claimed was a copy of Ashley Biden's diary. O'Keefe says that PV was unable to authenticate it, chose not to report, and gave the diary to law enforcement "to ensure it could be returned to its rightful owner."
O'Keefe said the Department of Justice "immediately tried to silence" him after the raids, referring to language on the cover letter of a Grand Jury Subpoena he received that read:
"The Government hereby requests that you voluntarily refrain from disclosing the existence of the subpoena to any third party. While you are under no obligation to comply with our request, we are requesting you not to make any disclosure in order to preserve the confidentiality of the investigation and because disclosure of the existence of this investigation might interfere with and impede the investigation."
The PV video statement came Friday after the time O'Keefe says he spent deciding whether to comply. "I had to think long and hard," he said, "It's a decision that only I can make."
According to O'Keefe, one of the targeted reporters was contacted by the New York Times within an hour of the raid, yet there is no clear reason that outlet would be aware of the happening or the subject of the warrant. Project Veritas is currently suing the New York Times for defamation.
O'Keefe maintains innocence of criminality by himself, his company, and his reporters. "Our efforts were the stuff of responsible, ethical, journalism and we are in no doubt that Project Veritas acted properly at each and every step." His announcement shows concern as to whether the raid is politicized:
"Now, Ms. Biden's Father's Department of Justice, specifically the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, appears to be investigating the situation, claiming the diary was stolen. We don't know if it was, but it begs the question: in what world is the alleged theft of a diary investigated by the President's FBI and his Department of Justice? A diary! This federal investigation smacks of politics. Project Veritas never threatened or engaged in any illegal conduct.
Should the Southern District of New York try to take away our First Amendment rights to uncover and publish newsworthy stories without government intimidation, be assured, Project Veritas will not back down.
When the FBI and the Southern District of New York seize reporter's notebooks, it is not just an attack on Project Veritas. It is an attack on every American and our sacred right to free speech and a free press. The First Amendment is first for a reason: it guarantees all the other rights that follow because it's about accountability. Without accountability, freedom itself is an illusion."
Project Veritas has powerful enemies. Recent reporting exposed potential corruption and crimes within:
- CNN: In a release branded #ExposeCNN, PV conducted an undercover interview that captured a CNN producer admitting anti-Trump propaganda with intent to "get Trump out of office." After 2017's 'American Pravda' series, PV released recordings of CNN insiders calling their own Russiagate narratives "mostly bullshit," and later recordings of CEO Jeff Zucker in which he made the executive decision for the network to ignore the Hunter Biden laptop story. Another #ExposeCNN recording showed the CNN Producer saying the network used death toll numbers to intentionally hype Covid for ratings, while yet another showed him saying CNN protects Black Lives Matter's race narrative by discarding information that does not fit the desired optic.
- Facebook: A whistleblower from Facebook came to PV to expose an internal comment moderation policy intended to identify 'Vaccine Hesitancy' and thereby reduce skeptical jab discussions on the platform. This after a past whistleblower had exposed the process by which engineers at the company police political speech.
- Twitter: PV founder James O'Keefe has filed a defamation lawsuit against the social network over the claim used to ban his account, that he "operated fake accounts."
- Johnson & Johnson: Undercover employees at the pharmaceutical giant showed skepticism of the COVID-19 products they helped develop.
- Pfizer: Scientists at the COVID-19 drug manufacturer made recorded statements that naturally produced antibodies will be more effective than their company's product. Another whistleblower at the company gave emails to PV that showed executives discussing informal talking point policies aimed at avoiding complications with the company's image associated with the use of aborted fetuses in testing their COVID-19 product.
