Project Veritas operative busted by The Washington Post spent months trying to infiltrate the paper

Project Veritas operative rented a room from a Democratic operative — (Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

For months before The Washington Post blew her cover story on Monday, Jaime Phillips, using a variety of aliases, had been networking with reporters in Washington, D.C., and New York City, trying to strike up friendships and sometimes surreptitiously videotaping conversations, The Washington Post detailed on Wednesday. Phillips appears to work for Project Veritas, which uses selectively edited secret video to target media organizations and liberal groups. The Post busted her trying to pass off a fake story about an affair with GOP Senate candidate Roy Moore, with the evident aim of discrediting the women who have accused Moore of sexual misconduct.

After announcing in a GoFundMe campaign that she was leaving Georgia to help take down the "liberal MSM" in New York, Phillips deleted her conservative social media history (her Twitter handle for a while was "Jaime❤PresidentTrump"), the Post says, and began populating her accounts with posts in favor of gun control and critical of President Trump, photos of John F. Kennedy, and quotes about love making America great. In July, she began showing up at farewell parties for Washington Post staffers and meet-ups with journalists or progressive activists, while renting a room from a Democratic operative. The Post shared text messages showing her five-week attempt to befriend a reporter, including sympathy tweets over a family tragedy.

Project Veritas founder James O'Keefe declined to comment on Phillips' mingling with journalists, telling the Post, "I can't give up the identity of my sources, no more than you can disclose the identity of your anonymous sources." It's not clear what "sources" he was talking about. You can read about Phillips' undercover activities at The Washington Post, and get a taste of her social media makeover in the video below. Peter Weber

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.