The American Federation of Teachers claimed a win Friday in its lawsuit against the conservative investigative group Project Veritas after a district court judge said that discovery could go forward in the case.
The ruling was apparently prompted by Project Veritas posting a clip on YouTube from its undercover investigation of the union. AFT has alleged that Veritas’ undercover reporter, Marisa Jorge, used fraudulent means to get an internship with the union which was then used to obtain confidential information.
“According to Plaintiff, Defendant Jorge recorded a private conversation between herself and one of Plaintiff’s employees. Plaintiff asserts that Defendant (Project Veritas’) May 9, 2018 YouTube video supports its allegations,” said District Court Judge Linda Parker, ruling that the union could request documents from Project Veritas related to the case.
AFT’s statement claimed that videos obtained by Jorge were “doctored” and apparently believes the discovery will allow them to prove this. “James O’Keefe and his operative Melissa Jorge deliberately set out to deceive the public as part of a devious attempt to attack teachers and public education. Their tactics were illegal and fraudulent and must be condemned and fully investigated. With this ruling, Judge Parker will allow us to hold Project Veritas to the law it would prefer to flagrantly ignore,” said AFT Michigan President David Hecker.
Project Veritas shot back, noting that the union had previously sought court injunctions to prevent it from publishing anything. “The AFT is winning only the highest award for delusional self-congratulations. Contrary to its claims, AFT’s reckless efforts throughout this lawsuit to censor a Veritas publication failed repeatedly. As far as the case goes, they have won nothing, and their latest pleadings are as weak as their previous complaint. AFT is wasting union members’ dues on a frivolous lawsuit that it has no chance of winning,” said spokesman Marco Bruno.
The Michigan chapter of AFT filed the case in September after it discovered that an intern it hired who went by the name Marisa Perez, later identified as Jorge, was actually working for Project Veritas. The union said the reporter gained access to “a substantial amount of confidential and proprietary information including databases, confidential conferences and the status of grievance.” It argued that she had obtained trade secrets of the union and therefore publishing them should be blocked.
On May 9, Project Veritas posted a video on its website that it said was part one of its investigation of the Michigan AFT. The video involved a 2013 case in which a former teacher was alleged to have molested a student. The incident allegedly happened several years prior when the teacher was dating the student’s mother. The teacher was fired and AFT Michigan negotiated a $50,000 settlement for him. The video includes separate clips of an AFT field rep and the former teacher discussing the case, both apparently unaware they were being filmed. The teacher denied any wrongdoing. Both clips are edited. O’Keefe, who narrates the video, concedes they don’t know whether the allegations were true, but presents it as a case of the union acting to sweep a problem under the rug.
