A federal appeals court has sided with undercover activist James O’Keefe, famous for videos that reveal misbehavior by officials, politicians, more.
It is the District of Columbia Court of Appeals that canceled damages that had been awarded by a lower court to Democracy Partners and Robert Creamer, who had been the subject of videos released by O’Keefe and Project Veritas, which he then led, arguing they “sought to incite violence at Trump rallies” ahead of the 2016 election.
The video, “Rigging the Election,” featured clips taken by Project Veritas’s undercover reporters and several clips recorded by an employee named Alison Maass, who had gone undercover to get hired as an unpaid intern at Democracy Partners.
Editor’s Note: Be forewarded about offensive language in the video:
“The principal question in this appeal is whether the jury’s damages award violated the First Amendment by punishing the defendants for publishing a news story,” said Circuit Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson. “We conclude that it did. The separate issue is whether, under D.C. law, one of the media defendants became the fiduciary of her own news target by tricking him into hiring her as an unpaid intern. We conclude that she did not.”
A jury in 2022 had awarded the Democrat consultant $130,000 in damages based on the claim of fraudulent misrepresentation and wiretapping.
O’Keefe then appealed. O’Keefe and Maass argued the damages violated their First Amendment rights to freedom of the press.
🚨 #BREAKING 🚨
Democracy Partners vs. O’Keefe has been OVERTURNED
Here is some context:
In 2016, Project Veritas (then led by James O’Keefe) ran an undercover operation targeting Democratic consultant Robert Creamer and his firm “Democracy Partners”.
Reporter Allison Maass…
— Logan Wheeler (@TheLoganWheeler) August 22, 2026
A report at the Washington Examiner explained Creamer, the husband of Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., stepped back from his election work at that point because of the fallout.
And he sued, with a jury in the leftist enclave of Washington favoring Democracy Partners.
The appeals ruling did say some videos were gathered fraudulently but that did not have an impact on the court’s ruling, since they were mostly made up of “lawfully obtained” footage.
Judge Robert Wilkins, appointed by Barack Obama, said there should have been affirmation of a liability, but only to the extent of a “nominal” award.
O’Keefe said, “The right of an undercover journalist to misrepresent themselves in order to bring you the truth.
A lawyer for Creamer said the next steps are being considered.
Democracy Partners vs. O’Keefe – VERDICT OVERTURNED
VICTORY IN D.C. CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS, PANEL RULES 2-1
Appeal Court Rules Undercover Journalism Protected as 1st Amendment Activity setting precedent for all undercover journalism.
Democratic-appointed appellate Judge… pic.twitter.com/UOIsRCgsxY
— James O’Keefe (@JamesOKeefeIII) August 22, 2026
