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The newspaper labeled the investigation as “deceptive,” “false” and “without verifiable evidence.” This prompted Veritas to accuse NYT of publishing “false and defamatory statements impugning Veritas’ journalism” driven by resentment and political bias.

This decision by the New York Supreme Court allows Project Veritas to get depositions of the two NYT writers and other NYT employees. Veritas founder James O’Keefe promises to record and “expose” the depositions.

In its motion, the New York Times defended its coverage as accurate. The argument made by the NYT was "actual malice could not be proven". The Times emphasized Veritas is “libel-proof,” meaning its reputation is already irreparably tarnished. The judge disagreed.

“Defendants failed to demonstrate Veritas is a ‘classic libel-proof plaintiff’, whose reputation is so bad it simply cannot be defamed,” the ruling stated. “That other media sources have criticized Veritas, or that Veritas may have suffered blows to its reputation, without more, fails to meet the standard.”

What is Project Veritas?

Project Veritas is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. They are known as undercover investigators using guerrilla reporting. The group focus' mostly on politicians or private institutions perceived as corrupt. The organization is led by founder and President James O'Keefe, III.

Last week, Project Veritas came out with another undercover report. This time they were secretly recording Facebook executives saying the tech giant is “too powerful.” Soon after, Twitter permanently banned the video journalism company without explanation.