(LifeSiteNews) —An independent investigation into allegations made against John-Henry Westen and into recent events at LifeSiteNews has now been concluded.

The key results are as follows:

• John-Henry Westen has been completely exonerated. He is innocent of all wrongdoing, and the charges made against him were wholly false.
• Misconduct carried out by bad actors, internal and external to LifeSiteNews, has been identified and exposed. Appropriate action is being taken in response.
• A renewed board of directors has implemented measures which will make LifeSiteNews more secure from malicious attacks in future
• The Catholic mission of LifeSiteNews has been reaffirmed, under the leadership of John-Henry Westen, with unanimous board support

A video report by Vicki Yamasaki, who was commissioned by the Board of Directors to carry out a full independent investigation, can be viewed below, accompanied by a full transcript of her remarks.

LifeSiteNews has been tried by fire but has come out stronger and, if possible, even more determined to pursue the truth, whatever the cost.

Full report by Vicki Yamasaki, Independent Investigator

Dear Friends,

Four months ago, the news that John-Henry Westen had been removed from his position as CEO and Editor-in-Chief of LifeSiteNews sent shockwaves throughout the pro-life world.

A full independent investigation has now been concluded. This has completely exonerated John-Henry Westen, exposed bad actors who sought to harm LifeSiteNews, and set the organization on a course towards recovery, growth, and a renewed committed to telling the truth, no matter what the cost.

Today, for the first time, key facts can be revealed about a sinister plot that threatened to bring LifeSiteNews down.

It is a truly extraordinary story. Bad actors, inside and outside the organization, used false accusations to stage a coup and take control of LifeSiteNews. Once in power they carried out actions which could have no other consequence than to damage – and ultimately destroy – LifeSiteNews.  Yet by the grace of God, just two weeks later they were brought down.

These facts are being shared with you – LifeSiteNews’ readers, donors and supporters – because this was a concerted attack on the work we carry out together.

The results of an independent investigation

My name is Vicki Yamasaki. I am an independent investigator with decades of experience conducting investigations and helping organizations restore confidence through strong governance and risk management. I was commissioned by the Board of Directors of LifeSiteNews to carry out a full investigation into the accusations made against John-Henry Westen and to undertake a detailed review of LifeSiteNews’ finance and governance.

Today, I want to share openly about my findings, presenting key facts from numerous in-depth investigation reports that I have compiled and submitted to the Board. I will focus on the events and lessons learned rather than on the individuals concerned. To protect the organization from potential legal risks, I won’t be naming specific people involved. I will also leave aside speculation about motivations and focus on the concrete impact of their actions. I’ll stick to what happened, why it matters, and how we’re fixing it. My goal is transparency, healing, and empowerment.

I want to start by thanking you – LifeSiteNews’ readers, supporters, and donors – for the incredible resilience you’ve shown over these past few months. LifeSiteNews isn’t just an organization; it’s a mission-driven family united by a profound commitment to truth, life, faith, family, and freedom. LifeSiteNews has faced a tempest, but your dedication to the mission has carried us through.

The context

I was commissioned by the LifeSiteNews board to act as an external Chief Financial Officer and to conduct an independent investigation into (i) the accusations against John-Henry Westen, (ii) events at LifeSiteNews following his removal. I began this work on July 22, 2025.

Working with LifeSiteNews’ leadership, legal counsel, and external experts, I interviewed many individuals and reviewed thousands of documents, emails, bank statements, and external documents. It was exhaustive – late nights were spent pouring over bylaws, financial records, emails, nonprofit codes, and even digging into insurance policies line by line.

These investigations revealed that John-Henry Westen was innocent of wrongdoing. But they also revealed that, unfortunately, the same could not be said of others.  Over the last few months we’ve corrected errors, secured assets, strengthened controls and filed claims to recover funds. And crucially, we’ve put together a blueprint for more secure governance in the future.

In this report, I will simply set out the facts, so that you – the readers, supporters, and donors of LifeSiteNews – can see the lengths to which nefarious actors went to destroy John-Henry Westen and LifeSiteNews.

We want you to have this information because you have a right to know that this was not just an attack on LSN – it was an attack on you.  Whatever their motivations, if the coup had succeeded their actions would ultimately have brought LifeSiteNews down.

An invalid board vote

On July 2, the LifeSiteNews board of directors voted to remove John-Henry Westen from the position of CEO and Editor-in-Chief of LifeSiteNews by a 5-4 vote. This vote followed presentations in which serious, but entirely false, accusations were made.

This board vote was invalid because it was contrary to the bylaws of LifeSiteNews in two respects:

• John-Henry Westen was not given the five days’ notice required by the bylaws before a vote to remove a director.
• One of the votes against him was made by email, which was invalid because the bylaws specify directors must be present at a meeting in order to vote.

On July 16, just two weeks later, John-Henry Westen was informed by the Chairman of the Board that, having taken legal advice, he had determined that the vote was null and that Westen was still the CEO and Editor-in-Chief of LifeSiteNews. This was confirmed by the Board on July 18.

On July 22, the Board removed one of its members and again affirmed John-Henry Westen as CEO and Editor-in-Chief. Since that date two more board members have resigned, and a third has been recognized as unable to fulfill board duties due to serious ill health.

An unlawful leak of a board meeting recording

On July 16, the very day John-Henry Westen informed staff that he was still CEO, a confidential audio from the July 2 meeting – hosted via a collaboration tool – was leaked publicly, without authorization from the Board of Directors. It spread across YouTube channels in Catholic media circles, containing false allegations of fraud, harassment, and dysfunction, and amplifying internal tensions into public harm.

The YouTuber to whom the video was leaked also made additional entirely false allegations against members of John-Henry Westen’s family, which had not even been made at the board meeting. The YouTuber has since apologized for these false statements.

The falsehoods contained in the leak, and subsequent commentary, had serious negative consequences for LifeSiteNews’ reputation and income.

We have a suspect for the leak, and we’re developing a strategy to seek justice. The leak violated LifeSiteNews’ staff handbook on confidentiality and privacy laws in the state concerned.

False accusations against John-Henry Westen

The leaked audio contained defamatory accusations against John-Henry Westen but did not include any of the statements others made in his defense.  The most serious charges were that John-Henry Westen (i) gained financially from a LifeSiteNews transaction, (ii) made misrepresentations to a donor, and (iii) engaged in nepotism as regards two of his daughters who are LifeSiteNews employees. My investigation quickly showed that all these allegations were completely false.

First, the allegation of personal profit, related to the purchase of a building in Ontario, was completely groundless.

Here’s what actually happened: LifeSiteNews purchased a new building in Ontario to serve as its video production studio. Using a technique that many nonprofits employ when holding real estate, LifeSiteNews set up a separate company in which John-Henry Westen was the sole Director, but LifeSiteNews owned 100% of the shares. Westen held no ownership and received no financial benefit from this LifeSiteNews real estate holding company.

Second, Westen was falsely accused of inflating the cost of a particular expense when asking a donor for $80,000 for a project that cost $10,000. This, too, was completely false.

Here’s the reality: A generous donor heard about a video series project LifeSiteNews were planning and offered to help fund it. The internal calculation showed that the project would cost $10,000 to produce, a fact which was conveyed to the donor, while also presenting research that showed the general industry cost of producing a similar video series was $80,000. Westen further informed the donor that if an external group asked us to produce the series for them, we would charge $30,000. All of these figures were presented to the donor, who very generously responded by making an $80,000 gift to LifeSiteNews. There was no misrepresentation whatsoever to the donor.

Third, with respect to the fact that two of Westen’s daughters are employed at LifeSiteNews, being a co-founder doesn’t mean that his children are disqualified from working for the mission he helped build. Westen recused himself from the hiring decisions. In fact, one of his daughters joined LifeSiteNews as a Major Gifts Officer during a critical staffing shortage. She left a secure, full-time career and took a $35,000 pay cut in order to serve the mission. Both daughters worked in donor engagement and development and are warm and engaging. As CFO I looked at the donor revenue, and it was steady throughout 2024 and 2025 September year to date, demonstrating the Westen daughters are highly effective fundraisers who deliver measurable results.

Staff survey results and reports of a “culture of fear”

The leaked board meeting referred to a staff survey which, it was claimed, showed that 100% of respondents alleged that John-Henry Westen had created a “culture of fear.” Only 12 members of staff, out of more than 60, had taken this survey (a 20% response rate). Two of the twelve attested to me that they did not make this allegation. One of these individuals has stated publicly that his remarks about a “culture of fear” were not in reference to Westen but to another individual.

After Westen’s removal, nearly 40% of LifeSiteNews staff reached out to the Board to distance themselves from the survey’s findings. These same employees signed a letter (with employee signatures certified by me) addressed to the Board, raising grave concerns about another leader’s bullying, intimidation, and overreach.

Board members were informed that, after Westen’s removal, emails were deleted from staff accounts, staff were denied access to LSN systems, and that an atmosphere of fear and intimidation had been created. One member of staff was fired during this period as retaliation for speaking up and has since re-established his working relationship with LifeSiteNews.

As part of my internal investigation, I commissioned an independent human resource agency to conduct a new independent survey administered anonymously of all 49 current LifeSiteNews staff and contractors. 38 individuals responded, an exceptionally high response rate of 77.5%.

The findings are radically different from those reported during the July 2 meeting.  In fact, the September engagement survey severely undermines the narrative that the entire organization was operating in an atmosphere of fear, corruption, and dysfunction.

The survey, which compares LifeSiteNews results against global Gallup scores, reveals LifeSiteNews to be a healthy organization. Overall LifeSiteNews scored more than three times higher than the global average.

LifeSiteNews scored particularly highly in the area of “Support and Recognition,” with 78.9% of respondents agreeing with the statement “At work, I am treated with respect.” The same number agreed with the statement “I feel supported by my manager.”

In every category, positive results outweighed negative results. This new survey shows an above-average engaged workforce which noticed and appreciated improvement after the summer turmoil.

On the basis of this survey, carried out professionally by an independent agency, I have advised that the board disregard the survey results that were presented at that invalid July 2 board meeting as unreliable.

Operational and asset management issues

Following the removal of John-Henry Westen, elements of LifeSiteNews’ data were taken hostage by bad actors. This did not include the donor database, which remained secure.

A critical Microsoft 365 tenancy – including LifeSiteNews’ email, devices, and historical records – was unilaterally transferred to a third-party vendor without Board approval in a violation of its bylaws. Staff devices were rendered inactive and historical emails were withheld, effectively holding LifeSiteNews’ intellectual property hostage. The IT team recovered access, but it disrupted workflows for more than six weeks.

Separately, an inventory at LifeSiteNews’ Austin [Texas] data cold site facility from September 18, 2025, revealed untracked equipment and supplies – everything from servers to storage units – valued in the tens of thousands, with unclear ownership trails. Unauthorized transfers to IT consultants were made by employees who were already removed from their duties, totaling $66,000 in prepayments without justification.

LifeSiteNews has responded with a full asset audit and the introduction of multi-factor data controls. Going forward, all vendor contracts will require board sign-off.

Financial oversight and transaction irregularities

In the month leading up to the planned coup against John-Henry Westen and during the leadership transition period following Westen’s initial departure and prior to his reinstatement, a series of actions were taken that did not align with organizational protocols. These included severance agreements that lacked proper authorization, attempted access to restricted financial platforms, and vendor payments that bypassed standard review. Importantly, these actions occurred despite board decisions on July 18 and 22 that had placed certain individuals on administrative leave. The company has since taken corrective steps to reinforce oversight and ensure alignment with governance standards.

A recent financial review covering January to August 2025 identified nearly $30,000 in expenses that lacked proper documentation or authorization. These included purchases that did not meet LifeSiteNews’s internal approval standards, such as personal items charged as business, unreturned equipment, and gifts exceeding policy thresholds.

The review identified opportunities to strengthen financial controls, and those improvements are now firmly in place. Bank accounts are fully reconciled, cash flow forecasting is active, and LifeSiteNews’s financial position has significantly strengthened over the past three months.

External auditors are concluding a previously delayed audit, now supported by renewed financial discipline and transparency. The strength of our current balance sheet reflects the decisive actions of the board of directors and the leadership of CEO John-Henry Westen.

Quantifying the impact and LifeSiteNews’ recovery push

Now I will present some financial context. LifeSiteNews is committed to being honest with its donors about the impact this internal disruption has had on our operations. Across multiple reviews, we’ve identified significant financial irregularities and costs stemming from this leadership crisis — including legal fees, lost productivity, and donor attrition following John-Henry Westen’s removal and the leak of the July 2 board meeting audio.

Contributing factors included misuse of company charge cards, unauthorized vendor payments, and other instances of self-dealing, such as unreturned equipment and conflicted transactions. LifeSiteNews has also borne the cost of investigating and resolving these issues.

In response, we’ve undertaken a rigorous review of our insurance coverage — including crime, fiduciary liability, and directors’ and officers’ policies. Every violation has been documented, from employee dishonesty to reputational harm, and claims have been filed to pursue full reimbursement. This effort is not just about financial recovery — it’s about restoring accountability and protecting LifeSiteNews from future risks.

Lessons learned and moving forward.

What has LifeSiteNews gained from these distressing events?

There are now stronger controls, automated reconciliations, clear delegation policies, and regular audits. The board is united with a renewed governance model emphasizing its Catholic mission. LifeSiteNews has committed itself to open communication with readers, supporters, and donors to restore trust and confidence.

LifeSiteNews is healing. Thanks to your generosity, donations are stabilizing. Our IT systems have been fortified, and LifeSiteNews is fully compliant with all regulations.

LifeSiteNews was attacked by bad actors

The results of my investigation are clear: LifeSiteNews came under attack by bad actors. Their true motives and intentions are known to God – I will not speculate on them here. What is clear is that their actions caused serious financial and reputational damage to LifeSiteNews. Much suffering was inflicted on LifeSiteNews’ staff, supporters were alienated, and the organization’s mission was harmed.

But God did not let evil win.

LifeSiteNews staff and board members fought back against the coup, and you, LifeSiteNews’ supporters, remained faithful to the cause.

The information I have shared today may be painful to hear, but we believe it was important to share it openly with you because “the truth sets us free” (Jn 8:32).

The attack and the victory were permitted and have proven to be a blessing because they have strengthened our operations and our resolve. While there is no guarantee that another attack won’t happen, we are now much better prepared to face it.

At LSN, our purpose is to serve God and to serve you, our readers, relying always on His grace and protection. Throughout this crisis, we have felt the strength of His guiding hand and the power of your prayers and support. We give thanks to God for His unfailing protection and to you for standing with us. Together, we will emerge stronger—through God’s providence and your steadfast encouragement. May God bless you abundantly.