“If you stay on the bench long enough, you see a lot of things. Still, I never thought I’d see a major news organization downplaying the importance of telling the truth in its broadcasts. But that is what CNN has done,” says 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge, Ed Carnes, in reference to James O’Keefe’s defamation lawsuit against mainstream media news network, CNN.

After three challenging years, thousands of miles traveled, and nearly a million dollars in legal fees, O'Keefe, Project Veritas’ founder, has secured a significant victory against CNN. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that CNN misrepresented Project Veritas in 2021 when it falsely claimed the organization was suspended from Twitter for “promoting misinformation.” This ruling is a major win for O'Keefe, who initiated the case in pursuit of truth and accountability in journalism, only to find himself later sidelined by Project Veritas, which is now attempting to take a victory lap for the very case he drove forward.

This ruling sends a powerful message on media accountability and moves the case into the discovery phase, allowing O’Keefe to uncover more about CNN's role in spreading misinformation. For O'Keefe, this victory emphasizes his personal commitment to holding media accountable: in a landscape often impaired by censorship and misinformation, this decision stands as a testament to the power of truth, no matter the cost.