It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that Steve Gordon, our Communications Director since 2014, fell critically ill over Labor Day weekend. The exact cause is unclear, but he lapsed into a coma and was unable to recover consciousness.

Sadly, Steve passed away on September 5th.

We are coming to grips with processing this sudden loss of someone so close, so essential, and so dear to us all. He was an American patriot; an essential part of the Veritas culture; and the leader of all things media.

Steve added so much life, intelligence, and joy.

He was the class clown but also the media expert.

Authentic and original – he had a profound moral compass that led him in this direction of integrity. He didn’t allow people to change his mind because of their strong will or persuasive ability. Steve knew what he knew, believed what he believed, and he never wavered.

Steve genuinely believed to his core in what we do here at Project Veritas; our Executive Director, Russ Verney, and I both witnessed this extraordinary capacity for work; he was like the energizer bunny, tireless and dedicated. Sometimes I wondered why?

He didn’t care about money or fame. He was a happy warrior. He just wanted to make a difference. He wanted to have an impact. Those qualities are rare in politics. I think he created a legacy of professionalism, people with values like his. He had ability.

When I hired Steve in the fall of 2014, the first thing he posted on his desk was a piece of paper with these words:

“If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.” - Samuel Adams

He would come into the office at 5am before a MAJOR STORY – to make sure everything was going to work. One time he wrote an entire 150-page year end marketing book, by himself, in just a few short days. I was in awe – my jaw dropped – he said it just needed to get done. That’s who Steve was.

He had both courage and integrity. He had character and conviction. And he was creative. That’s a killer combination. He worked so hard in furtherance of what he believed in. That’s what I knew for four years. Steve was a man that you could totally depend upon.

We didn’t always agree but we respected each other's opinions enough to listen and then come up with a solution. We knew each other for 10 years, worked in the trenches with each other for five years.

There’s an ad that hangs in my office and when I read it I always think of Steve; the last line is, “The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who actually do.”

Steve was the best of us. He made sacrifice after sacrifice in order to make everyone around him better, managing to do the impossible daily. He never asked anyone to anything he wasn't willing to do himself. Steve enabled and empowered all of us – inspiring us to demand of ourselves nothing but the best.

Even now I'm sure that he is motivating all those he worked with to keep moving forward with chins up high. Remembering him will ensure that we will stay on a righteous path.

That was my friend and colleague Stephen Gordon. I will miss him. I will miss him.

In Veritas,

James O’Keefe

P.S. You can watch our tribute video to Steve here.

Also, as you can imagine, this has placed significant financial strain on Steve’s family who have set up the following GoFundMe page: In memory of Steve Gordon.

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COULD THIS BE A MESSAGE TO O'KEEFE?