Project Veritas CEO quits, citing ‘strong evidence of past illegality and past financial improprieties’

(CNN) — Hannah Giles, the chief executive of Project Veritas, said Monday she has stepped down from her role at the right-wing group “effective immediately,” after discovering evidence that the organization has engaged in “past illegalities.”

“Though I had high hopes when I joined the organizations, I stepped into an unsalvageable mess — one wrought with strong evidence of past illegality and past financial improprieties,” Giles wrote in a post on X. “Once such evidence was discovered, I brought the information to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.”

Project Veritas did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.

The right-wing group, which was created by James O’Keefe in 2010, is known for its selectively edited undercover sting videos that target journalists and progressive groups, including CNN and The New York Times. The edited videos published by Project Veritas often champion disinformation and conspiracy theories — and have been further circulated by Fox News and other right-wing media organizations to help grow the group’s sphere of influence.

Giles was appointed to the top job in June 2023, four months after the organization’s previous chief executive, O’Keefe, was ousted from the group.

The removal of O’Keefe from the nonprofit organization that he founded came after an internal memo signed by members of the staff and presented to the group’s board alleged that O’Keefe was “outright cruel” to his employees. Project Veritas later said James “spent an excessive amount of donor funds” on “personal luxuries,” including $150,000 in black car services and a chartered flight.

In August, the Westchester County, New York, district attorney’s office confirmed reports it was investigating the allegations against O’Keefe.

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