Although conservatives can be "just as indigent and poor as liberals," the Missouri Supreme Court denied Mark and Patricia McCloskey’s request to represent Project Veritas (PV) to fulfill their 100 hours of service probation requirement.
The couple are trial attorneys who founded the McCloskey Law Center prior to rising in national prominence during George Floyd protests two years ago.
“What Project Veritas does is represent the rights of people who couldn't possibly afford to do those things on their own,” Mark McCloskey said. “They are defending constitutional rights and digging up the truth for ordinary people and that's a better community service than anything else I could think of. That's why I wanted to do it and I don't know why the Supreme Court thought otherwise.”
The McCloskeys were ordered to complete pro bono legal services to organizations that provide legal services without charge for poverty-stricken Missouri residents after being arrested and charged with misdemeanors for brandishing guns in front of their St. Louis home while demonstrators marched towards former Mayor Lyda Krewson’s home nearby.
“The court doesn’t believe that Project Veritas fits their definition of a community service organization,” McCloskey told the St. Louis Record. “I think they want me to do something which is more in line with representing specific individuals as opposed to broader political issues. But I think that protecting our constitutional rights and telling the truth does more to help the community than any individual lawsuit.”
Project Veritas is an undercover news organization that sued the New York Times and CNN for alleged defamation however both lawsuits were recently dismissed this year.
The home of Project Veritas founder James O’Keefe was raided by the FBI last year over the alleged theft of the diary of President Joe Biden’s daughter Ashley, according to media reports.
More recently, Project Veritas was credited with obtaining undercover audio and video of a Twitter employee discussing the acquisition of the social media site by billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.
“They certainly have some legal issues that need to be dealt with because they're constantly being persecuted for digging up the truth on leftwing organizations,” McCloskey said.
As an alternative, McCloskey is considering anti-critical race theory organizations as well as Young Americans for Liberty, a pro-liberty organization located on college campuses nationwide.
“I might suggest that,” he said. “There are a variety of people out there working in the interests of our constitutional rights and doing things for conservative causes. Conservative Americans are just as poor and indigent as anyone else, and they can't protect their rights. They can't afford to hire lawyers so they need organizations to protect their rights for them.”