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Project Veritas
| Project Veritas | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Mamaroneck, N.Y. |
| Type: | 501(c)(3) |
| Top official: | Benjamin Wetmore, president of the board |
| Founder(s): | James O'Keefe |
| Year founded: | 2011 |
| Website: | Official website |
Project Veritas is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that investigates politicians and private institutions using undercover journalists. The organization was founded by James O'Keefe, III and has a related 501(c)(4) organization, Project Veritas Action Fund.
O'Keefe was removed from his leadership position in the organization in 2023.[1]
Background
As of August 2025, the website for Project Veritas listed the following mission statement for the organization:[2]
| “ | We are journalists exposing corruption in government, media, big tech, politics, education, and beyond through undercover video.[3] | ” |
Project Veritas was founded by James O'Keefe, III as an organization devoted to exposing any perceived dishonesty and corruption by secretly recording and then producing and editing videos of undercover reporting as well as encounters with politicians and public figures.[4] Before forming the organization, O'Keefe had earned a reputation for undercover video journalism when he posed as a pimp for an undercover investigation of ACORN.[5] Along with Hannah Giles, O'Keefe staged an encounter with low-level employees of a voter registration drive organized by the group.[5] The group aimed further undercover videos at National Public Radio, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Rev. Al Sharpton.[6][7][8]
Leadership
As of August 2025, Benjamin Wetmore is president of Project Veritas' board of directors.[2]
Work and activities
News activities
The group applied for and received nonprofit status in 2011, although O'Keefe and other filmmakers had been making videos since the ACORN investigations in 2009. Earlier videos, O'Keefe said, had been produced out of the filmmakers' own pockets, saying, "Up 'til now, my friends and I have financed all of our work on our own -- running up major credit card debt. We made a lot of sacrifices -- personally and financially -- because we fight for what we believe in."[9]
In August 2025, Project Veritas produced its first project since 2023, regarding former U.S. Attorney General William Barr.[10] Past projects have focused on a number of elected officials and their staff, NPR, the Washington Post, Google, and Pfizer.[11][12][13][14]
Notable endorsements
This section displays endorsements this organization made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope. Know of one we missed? Click here to let us know.
Finances
As of August 2025, Project Veritas and its 501(c)(4) arm Project Veritas Action Fund had not filed reports with the Internal Revenue Service since 2021.[15] In 2021, Project Veritas reported $20,703,077 in revenue and $20.626,622 in expenses.[16]
Noteworthy events
Roy Moore allegations to The Washington Post, (2017)
In November 2017, a woman approached The Washington Post claiming that Roy Moore (R), the then-Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Alabama, had impregnated her when she was 15 years old. According to the paper, after weeks of discussions with the woman, they decided not to publish the story because it was unverified; they then witnessed her entering Project Veritas' headquarters. The allegations came at the same time that the paper had reported that Moore had initiated sexual encounters with teenagers when he was in his 30s.[17]
Voter registration video (2016)
In October 2016, Project Veritas Action Fund—a 501(c)(4) nonprofit related to Project Veritas—released video footage of a number of Democratic operatives appearing to describe illegal voter registration activity as well as methods for agitating then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and his supporters at rallies. In an article outlining the first videos Project Veritas released on October 17 and 18, 2016, Time reported:[18]
| “ | In one video, a contractor seems to brag about sending homeless and mentally ill people to harass Republicans. Someone identified as a Democratic National Committee staffer appears to claim credit for pushing Republican contender Donald Trump’s rally in Chicago toward violence. In another, consultants look like they are describing a plan to bus voters across state lines and registering immigrants in the country illegally to vote.[3] | ” |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Project Veritas. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Politico , "Project Veritas leader removed," February 20, 2023
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Project Veritas, "About," accessed August 20, 2025
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ CBS News , "Project Veritas, founded by James O'Keefe, is laying off workers and pausing fundraising," September 21, 2023
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 NPR , "ACORN Grapples With Fallout Of Damaging Videos," September 16, 2009
- ↑ Politico, "O’Keefe releases another NPR video," March 10, 2011
- ↑ Politico, "Anti-ACORN filmmaker arrested," January 26, 2010
- ↑ New York Post , "Garner’s kid on Sharpton: ‘He’s all about the money,'" February 24, 2015
- ↑ Talking Points Memo, "O'Keefe Says He Racked Up 'Major Credit Card Debt,' Needs To Raise $50K," March 23, 2011
- ↑ Project Veritas , "Stories," accessed August 20, 2025
- ↑ Slate , "The power of James O'Keefe," October 25, 2012
- ↑ CNN , "Activist releases another recording with an NPR fundraising executive," March 13, 2011
- ↑ Washington Post , "Sen. Ted Cruz questions Google about recent Project Veritas report," June 26, 2019
- ↑ U.S. Rep. Chip Roy , "Rep. Roy, Sen. Lee lead push for answers from HHS regarding Project Veritas’ Pfizer sting video," February 15, 2023
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedirs - ↑ Internal Revenue Service , "Project Veritas 2021 990 Form," accessed August 20, 2025
- ↑ The Washington Post, "A woman approached The Post with dramatic — and false — tale about Roy Moore. She appears to be part of undercover sting operation," November 27, 2017
- ↑ Time, "Everything We Know About the Latest James O’Keefe Video Sting," October 18, 2016
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