O’KEEFE V. TWITTER LEGAL VICTORY: Defeats Attempt to Transfer Case to Friendly Court
Key Points
Project Veritas founder and CEO, James O’Keefe, just won his first major legal victory in a lawsuit against Twitter.
A Manhattan federal court ruled to “remand” -- or allow the case to be brought back down from federal to state level.
Twitter’s presumed objective was to transfer this case to the federal level so they could litigate in a friendly California court instead of the New York State Supreme Court. California federal courts routinely dismiss cases against Big Tech companies.
Twitter attorney, Amer Ahmed, argued that O’Keefe would seek over $75,000 in damages to “punish” the Big Tech company for defamation, suggesting this as the reason for the case to be elevated to the federal level.
O’Keefe is not seeking over $75,000 in damages because this case is about justice, not money.
O’Keefe is suing Twitter and intends to depose their executives to discover why the Big Tech company permanently suspended his account and defamed him.
O’Keefe was permanently suspended from Twitter in April 2021 after launching the explosive #ExposeCNN videos, where CNN technical director, Charlie Chester, admitted his network promotes propaganda and a political agenda.
Twitter’s reasoning for the permanent suspension was that O’Keefe “operated fake accounts.” That allegation is false and defamatory.
[NEW YORK – Jul. 6, 2021] Project Veritas released a new video today updating the public on the first O’Keefe v. Twitter lawsuit victory that took place, where a Manhattan federal court ruled to “remand” the case back from the federal level to the state level.
O’Keefe filed a lawsuit against Twitter in April 2021 after the Big Tech company permanently suspended his account alleging he “operated fake accounts” on the platform – a defamatory statement with no grounds in reality.
The permanent suspension conveniently took place during the same week that Project Veritas had exposed CNN’s technical director Charlie Chester -- leading to viral videos on the platform.
In their legal response, Twitter was presumably exploring a way to transfer the lawsuit to a California federal court given their track record of dismissing cases against Big Tech companies. However, a Manhattan federal court did not find Twitter’s demand to hold water and ordered the case remanded back to the New York State Supreme Court.
Twitter’s lawyer, Amer Ahmed, made the argument that O’Keefe would seek over $75,000 in damages to “punish” Twitter, assuming that O’Keefe is looking for money instead of justice. Ahmed was convinced that this would guarantee the case transfer to a California federal court.
The Twitter attorney quickly learned that O’Keefe does not prioritize monetary gain over the pursuit of justice, thereby undermining the basis to move the lawsuit to federal court.
O’Keefe is looking forward to the opportunity of conducting discovery on Twitter and finding out who were the responsible parties within the Big Tech company involved in the decision to suspend his account and issue the defamatory reasoning for doing so.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and other executives may be deposed in this case and forced to answer for the defamation perpetrated against O’Keefe.
About Project Veritas
Project Veritas is a non-profit investigative news organization conducting undercover reporting. Project Veritas investigates and exposes corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions to achieve a more ethical and transparent society. Project Veritas is a registered 501(c)(3) organization.