Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe tracked down CNN President Jeff Zucker outside his residence in New York City to question him about their American Pravda series, which included a producer saying that the orders for the Russian witch hunt was coming from the top.
Zucker ignored O’Keefe and quickly hopped into the waiting vehicle.
Earlier this week, Veritas released explosive footage of CNN producer John Bonifield admitting that the network’s coverage is “mostly bullshit” — and being done by direct order of Zucker.
The video went massively viral, and was even promoted by Deputy White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders during Tuesday’s press briefing.
“There’s a video out there circulating right now, whether it’s accurate or not, I don’t know, but I would encourage everybody in this room, and frankly, everybody across the country to take a look at it,” Huckabee Sanders stated. “If it is accurate, I think it’s a disgrace to all of media, to all of journalism. I think we have gone to a place where if the media can’t be trusted to report the news, then that’s a dangerous place for America, and if that’s the place where certain outlets are going, particularly for the purpose of spiking ratings, and if that’s coming from the top, that’s even more scary, and that’s even more disgraceful.”
Veritas also released a video of a phone conversation O’Keefe had with the Washington Post’s Paul Farhi on Thursday, in which he confronts the reporter over a lie that he had published in his coverage of the American Pravda videos.
Farhi had claimed that O’Keefe did not disclose that Bonifield in based in Atlanta, despite the fact that it is plainly stated during the introduction of the Veritas video.
“[The video] doesn’t disclose that he is based in Atlanta — not in Washington or New York, where most of CNN’s coverage of national affairs and politics are produced,” Farhi wrote.
“There’s a factual error that says i did not mention that john was based in Atlanta,” O’Keefe says during the call. “In my on-camera in the video I clearly state that he, you know, he’s from Atlanta. Can you publish a retraction on that?”
“Let me look into it,” Farhi says. “Yes, if we got it wrong we got it wrong, we’ll correct.”
In subsequent emails, Farhi says that the paper is sticking by the fake news and will not be publishing a retraction. He also tells O’Keefe to “drop dead.”
BREAKING: @washingtonpost writer @farhip tells concerned citizen to "drop dead" in defense of his #FakeNews about @JamesOKeefeIII! pic.twitter.com/yHsj4EGjSV
— Project Veritas (@Project_Veritas) June 29, 2017
CNN has acknowledged in a statement that the American Pravda video of Bonifield is legitimate, but stood by him, claiming that they embrace diversity of “personal opinion.” They did not respond to the allegations that their witch hunt is being directed from the top, which is what O’Keefe was attempting to get answers about in the video released on Thursday.
“CNN stands by our medical producer John Bonifield. Diversity of personal opinion is what makes CNN strong, we welcome it and embrace it,” the network said in a statement.
On Wednesday, Veritas released another video where hidden cameras revealed CNN’s superstar activist and commentator Van Jones saying that the Russia narrative is a “big nothingburger.”
During a press conference from CPAC in February, O’Keefe offered a $10,000 reward for content exposing media malfeasance — but Project Veritas Communications Director Steve Gordon told Big League that this week’s videos came from an undercover journalist with Veritas, not a leak.
A Veritas insider has confirmed to Big League that there are still more videos that will be released, though they did not provide information on when.
