DOJ secretly spied on Project Veritas journalists, misled court

Newly released documents from Project Veritas reveals that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has been secretly spying on the organization’s journalists for two years.  

Project Veritas is a conservative guerrilla journalism organization known for exposing false narratives by capturing shocking admissions on hidden camera, most often from players on the Left. 

Through sealed search warrants and non-disclosure orders, agents of SDNY – a division of the Department of Justice – subpoenaed the journalists’ communications from Microsoft in 2020. 

They have since been reviewing those documents without the court's knowledge. 

It began in November of last year, when the DOJ sent FBI agents to raid the homes of eight Project Veritas journalists, including its founder, James O’Keefe. They seized 47 electronic devices and the communications they held. 

Within days, Judge Analisa Torres ordered the SDNY to pause all review of the communications and hand them over to a special master, who would supervise the SDNY’s probe into the journalists’ communications. 

The SDNY did so. 

But unbeknownst to Project Veritas or the court, SDNY had already gone to six different magistrates in November 2020 and obtained secret warrants, orders and a subpoena to spy on the journalists. 

It has now been revealed that SDNY withheld all this from Judge Torres, omitting it from court documents. So, when Torres ordered them to hand over all communications, they continued to withhold the privileged material they had secretly obtained. 

Furthermore, even after the appointment of the special master, SDNY went around Judge Torres and obtained two secrecy orders, allowing them to force Microsoft to hand over Project Veritas communications. 

“The SDNY was ordered to turn over all materials to the special master,” said O’Keefe. “They didn’t. The SDNY was ordered to stop reviewing our materials. They didn’t. The SDNY has an obligation to be honest with the court. They weren’t.” 

The raid on the homes of the Project Veritas journalists sparked shock across social media and within the U.S. government. At least five US senators sent letters to Attorney General Merrick Garland, Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) delivered scathing remarks to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the House floor, and even Left-wing publication Politico blasted the move.