The scandal over Jeffrey Epstein continues to trouble the Trump administration, and this week, another PR nightmare involving the dead pedophile blew up in the White House’s face. Said PR nightmare came from a surprising source: rightwing provocateur James O’Keefe, who notably made his name with the far-right activist group Project Veritas.
In the past, Veritas was known for targeting liberal organizations and Democrats, although, after a series of scandals, it’s no longer active. O’Keefe is still at it, however, and, in a surprising twist, he now seems to be targeting conservatives. This week, O’Keefe released a video captured with a hidden camera that purports to show a top Justice Department official discussing the Epstein case and claiming that the government will selectively redact the files to shift blame from Republicans to Democrats.
On Thursday, O’Keefe’s current organization, dubbed the O’Keefe Media Group, published a video involving Joseph Schnitt, a high-ranking official with the Justice Department. In the heavily edited video, Schnitt appears to discuss the Jeffrey Epstein files and seems to state that the government plans to politicize the future release of files. “They’ll redact every Republican or conservative person in those files, leave all the liberal, Democratic people in those files, and have a very slanted version of it come out where it’s ‘look at what’s going on’ without really seeing any of their [Republicans’] bad behavior,” Schnitt says. The woman’s side of the conversation is only heard off-camera, and she’s the one who brings up the Epstein files.
Later in the video, during a discussion about Epstein’s co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell, Schnitt can be heard saying: “She got transferred to a minimum security prison, too, recently, which is against BOP [Bureau of Prisons] policy because she’s a convicted sex offender and they’re not supposed to get minimum security prisons, which is an interesting detail because she’s getting a benefit, which means they’re offering her something to keep her mouth shut.”
It’s worth noting that O’Keefe’s videos are often drained of context. In the past, we described Project Veritas’ modus operandi as “a pantomime of investigative journalism, using secretly recorded and deceptively edited videos to smear liberal groups, tech companies, and perceived opponents of the conservative movement.” That said, in this case, Schnitt’s comments seem somewhat straightforward, and obviously don’t make the government look very good.
In an effort to dispel the immediate controversy from O’Keefe’s video, the Justice Department took the very unusual (and, some would argue, certifiably insane) step of posting what appears to be an unedited iPhone screenshot of an email sent by Schnitt to Bondi. In so doing, the DOJ seems to have done journalists’ work for them and confirmed much of what O’Keefe’s organization has alleged about the undercover operative’s encounter with Schnitt.
The details provided by the email illuminate some of O’Keefe’s honeypotting tactics. In the email, Schnitt says that, in July, he met a woman on the dating app Hinge who said that her name was “Skylar.” Skylar, who claimed to be an au pair from Georgetown, went on two dates with Schnitt in August. Schnitt admits that he did identify himself as working for the government on his dating profile. The email also identifies Schnitt as an assistant deputy chief with the Justice Department’s Special Operations Unit.
The email sent by Schnitt to Bondi concludes with a groveling disclaimer that he doesn’t actually know anything about Maxwell’s situation:
“The comments I made were my own personal comments on what I’ve learned in the media and not from anything I’ve done at or learned via work. I have no knowledge of the circumstances surrounding Ms. Maxwell other than what is reported in the news. I also never divulged anything about what I do at work. I recall that she asked if I had any knowledge about Maxwell and I specifically said I only know what’s been reported in the news.”
In an additional statement published online, the DOJ’s Office of Public Affairs further decried Schnitt’s covertly captured claims: “The comments in this video have absolutely zero bearing with reality and reflect a total lack of knowledge of the DOJ’s review process. The DOJ is committed to transparency and is in compliance with the House Oversight Committee’s request for documents.”
Here, the DOJ is referencing a recent effort by the GOP-controlled House Oversight Committee to shed additional light on the Epstein files.
Interestingly enough, this week, O’Keefe’s also hosted a YouTube interview with Rep. Thomas Massie (R-West Virginia), who has been at the forefront of an escalating war with the White House over the Epstein files. Trump and his allies have openly criticized Massie for months for breaking with the GOP line on policy, most notably with Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. In turn, Massie has continually platformed the Epstein issue, much to the chagrin of the administration. “If you can’t get Republicans to care about an underage sex trafficking ring with hundreds of victims, how are you going to get them to care about the budget?” Massie recently said, of the issue. This week, the Congressman also held a press conference in Washington, D.C. that involved Epstein’s victims. He is currently attempting to secure a vote on a bill that would force the DOJ to release additional records related to Epstein, the Wall Street Journal has reported.
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