Activist Apparently Behind Failed Washington Post Sting Receives 'Hero' Award

Just over a week after a sting attempt on The Washington Post apparently tied to Project Veritas spectacularly backfired, Project Veritas President James O’Keefe was honored as a“hero”by the conservative group United for Purpose.

O’Keefe accepted the “Impact” award from United for Purpose’s president, Ginni Thomas, who is married to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

“Proud to receive the Impact award from Ginni Thomas on behalf of the @project_veritas team,” O’Keefe wrote in an Instagram caption documenting the ceremony, which took place at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.

According to United for Purpose, recipients of the award must demonstrate “broad impact,” show “tenacity, courage and perseverance even under hostile attacks,” or be “an asset to the whole liberty movement,” amongother criteria.

Project Veritas is a conservative organization that claims its mission is to expose biases in the mainstream media by going undercover. It has an impressive record of failed stings, apparently including a recent attemptto discredit the Post’s groundbreaking reporting on Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore and his alleged sexual harassment of teenage girls when he was in his 30s.

Through standard background checks, the Post uncovered that a woman claiming to be another Moore accuser was likely affiliated with O’Keefe’s group and was seen walking into Project Veritas’ offices. She approached Post reporters as part of an organized attempt to trick the paper into publishing a false story so it would cast doubt on the accounts of other women who say Moore victimized them, the Post reported.

“The intent by Project Veritas clearly was to publicize the conversation if we fell for the trap,” Post Executive Editor Martin Baron said last week. “Because of our customary journalistic rigor, we weren’t fooled.”

O’Keefe refused to comment when reporters asked about his group’s ties to the failed sting attempt.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.