Project Veritas Leaks CNN Tape, Network Threatens Legal Action

Project Veritas Leaks CNN Tape, Network Threatens Legal Action
Project Veritas' James O'Keefe in a video as he listens though leaked tapes of meetings with CNN's Jeff Zucker, in a video released Dec. 1, 2020. (Project Veritas/Youtube screenshot)
Isabel van Brugen
12/2/2020
Updated:
12/2/2020

CNN said on Dec. 1 that it is involving “law enforcement” after James O’Keefe, founder of investigative journalism nonprofit Project Veritas, appeared to leak the network’s internal morning editorial calls.

On Tuesday morning, O’Keefe shared a preview on Twitter teasing a release allegedly of a secretly recorded conference call between the network’s president Jeff Zucker and CNN’s senior leadership, claiming that it would “expose” network executives for expressing their “political biases.”

“Legal experts say this may be a felony. We’ve referred it to law enforcement,” CNN’s PR account said on the social media platform.

In a recording dated Oct. 9, 2020, Zucker is identified as the speaker by Project Veritas.

”I just want to reemphasize that, you know, I think we cannot normalize what has happened here in the last week with Trump and his behavior,” he can be heard saying.

A separate clip dated Sept. 8, 2020, allegedly shows Vice President of Global Programming for CNN Digital Worldwide, Marcus Mabry, using the words “naked racism of Tucker Carlson” in a reference to the Fox News host.

“That’s really what drove this anti-diversity push. You know Trump watches Tucker Carlson’s show and then reacts,” the speaker identified as Mabry by Project Veritas says in the clip.

It is not clear how Project Veritas gained access to the conference calls.

CNN didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment by The Epoch Times.

Project Veritas in October last year published footage that showed alleged CNN employees speaking about Zucker’s “personal vendetta” to “take down President Trump.”

A lawyer for President Donald Trump’s reelection team, attorney Charles Harder of Harder LLP, later sent a letter to Zucker and Vice President David Vigilante, stating that the network’s actions were “in violation of the Lanham Act,” which prohibits a number of activities including false advertising.

In one of the videos, the employees are heard saying that CNN made attempts to report the news in an unbiased and neutral perspective, the letter reads. However, “In fact, its reporting is far from neutral and highly biased against” Trump.

CNN, the letter claims, is misrepresenting the public by claiming it employs “journalists,” “truth seekers,” and also stands for “excellence in journalism.”

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.