James O'Keefe Wins Nonprofit Status From IRS

The Internal Revenue Service has granted nonprofit status to the group that brought down two senior executives at NPR and dealt a death blow to the community organizing group Acorn with videos of its employees giving tax advice to people claiming to be a pimp and prostitute.

Project Veritas, a group founded by James O’Keefe, received the status from the IRS in April, according to documents gathered by The Chronicle of Philanthropy through a Freedom of Information Act request. “It will help us expand as an organization and institution,” O’Keefe said. He said the money saved with the status would help Project Veritas train and equip “an army” of citizen journalists to carry out its mission: “to investigate and expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud and other misconduct in both public and private institutions in order to achieve a more ethical and transparent society.”