Project Veritas said Monday it will launch a legal arm aimed at fighting defamation by media outlets with the release of a music video featuring the dance moves of founder James O’Keefe.
The guerrilla journalism outfit posted the announcement on YouTube with a video showing Mr. O’Keefe and a troupe of skilled dancers performing to an original song called “Oligarchy,” calling it an “anthem for everyone who has ever been DEFAMED.”
“Veritas launches PV LEGAL — will represent others who’ve been lied about and can’t defend themselves,” said the organization. “If you have been defamed, email: Pvlegal@projectveritas.com.”
Certainly Project Veritas has experience in the legal arena. Mr. O’Keefe, who says Project Veritas has never lost a lawsuit, sued The New York Times last year for defamation, scoring a court victory in March by beating back the newspaper’s motion to dismiss.
Last month, Mr. O’Keefe sued Twitter for defamation after the platform banned him for violating its rules against “platform manipulation and spam” by creating fake accounts, which he denies.
He then sued CNN over a comment made by host Ana Cabrera, who said Mr. O’Keefe was banned as part of an effort by Twitter to stop those “promoting disinformation.”
The music video shows clips of Fox News and CNN reports on Project Veritas, and mentions a number of media titans, including Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and The Times executive editor Dean Baquet.
The song’s lyrics include: “Twitter, CNN, Zuck is working with Dorsey,” and “Do you print lies? Does Dean Baquet cry?” and “Some people want likes instead of being free.”
The video concludes with Mr. O’Keefe smashing television sets with a sledgehammer.
The Times is fighting the lawsuit, arguing that its reporters acted without malice when reporting on a Project Veritas investigation into ballot-harvesting and that the challenged statements were expressions of opinion, not fact.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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